Sri Lanka troops hunt militants linked to suicide attacks

Sri Lanka's military launched a major hunt Saturday for remnants of an militant group which carried out the Easter suicide bombings that killed 258 people, officials said.
Several Colombo suburbs were targeted by troops using emergency powers on arrests and detentions adopted after the April 21 attacks. "Special cordon-and-search operations are under way in three areas just outside Colombo," a military official told reporters. Similar operations were also carried out in North Western Province, near Colombo, where anti-Muslim riots this month left one man dead and hundreds of Muslim-owned shops, homes and mosques destroyed. Security forces have arrested scores of suspects in connection with the bombings of three hotels and three churches and over what appeared to be organised violence against the island's Muslim minority.