Colombo: Six people were killed in two incidents of apparently gang-related violence in Sri Lanka on Friday, police said, despite a tough crackdown ordered last week.
Five were found burned to death in a van on a remote stretch of road outside Colombo, their bodies too charred to be easily identified.
"This looks like some kind of revenge attack," a senior police official told AFP.
"An investigation is under way to identify the victims. We suspect this has something to do with gang rivalry."
In a separate incident, gunmen burst into a home in the island`s south and opened fire, killing a woman and wounding her husband, police said.
No arrests have yet been made over the deaths, which come days after President Maithripala Sirisena drafted in the military to help tackle a surge in gang-related shootings.
Security forces have been asked to conduct joint operations with the police to dismantle crime networks responsible for drug smuggling and extortion rackets.
Police have also re-introduced road blocks, a common sight during the decades-long Tamil separatist war that ended in May 2009.
