An explosion has been reported as a gun battle rages between Sri Lankan soldiers and suspects linked to the Easter Sunday bombings.
Shots were fired after security forces raided a suspected bomb factory in the coastal town of Sammanthurai, 200 miles from the capital Colombo.
A military spokesman said there was an explosion in the area and when troops went to investigate they were fired at.
Local media reported hearing further blasts but there was no immediate detail of any casualties.
Since the suicide bombings at three churches and four hotels on Easter Sunday, in which more than 250 people were killed, police have been carrying out raids across Sri Lanka to find more details about the perpetrators and their supporters.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks and Sri Lankan police are searching for 140 suspects thought to have links with the terror group.
Catholic churches in Sri Lanka cancelled all Sunday masses until further notice over fears of more attacks.
On Friday, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe apologised for failing to protect the victims of the bombings.
He wrote on Twitter: "We take collective responsibility and apologise to our fellow citizens for our failure to protect victims of these tragic events.
"We pledge to rebuild our churches, revive our economy, and take all measures to prevent terrorism, with the support of the international community."
We take collective responsibility and apologise to our fellow citizens for our failure to protect victims of these tragic events. We pledge to rebuild our churches, revive our economy, and take all measures to prevent terrorism, with the support of the international community.
— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) April 26, 2019
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said the country had the ability to "completely control the situation in the next few days".
Sri Lanka's health ministry revised down its estimated death toll from 359 to 253 on Thursday.
While most of those killed were Sri Lankans, officials say more than 30 foreigners died in the blasts.
Nine suicide bombers carried out the attacks in seven locations in Colombo, the western city of Negombo and the eastern city of Batticaloa.
