Police suspect that explosive material discovered in a Żejtun garage on Saturday could include the components of a bomb, sources have said.

The material has still to be analysed by experts, who will determine whether this is the case.

A police search in a garage used by a mechanic yielded explosive material and unlicensed weapons.

Members of the Armed Forces of Malta’s bomb disposal unit were on the scene and a sniffer dog was also used in the recovery. The sources said the building of bombs in Malta was somewhat “unique” and that the motive was often “crime, not terrorism”.

Public awareness usually brought about by media reports of a bomb find often led to people reporting suspicious behaviour to the police.

Earlier this month, the media reported that a bomb packed with a kilo of explosive material was found under a Toyota pickup in Fgura.

[attach id=213964 size="medium"]A soldier wearing heavy protective gear used a robot
to examine the bomb in Fgura. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli[/attach]

The bomb, which was believed to have been home-made, was defused by explosive ordnance experts and the police are looking for three men they think were responsible for planting it.

On November 16 last year, a car bomb exploded in Ħamrun soon after the driver had parked the vehicle and entered his mother’s house. Three people who were walking nearby were injured but their conditions were not serious.

That was the most serious bomb-related incident since the Transport Malta blast on December 2, 2010.

A bomb placed outside the window of Konrad Pulè, the chief officer of land, in Sa Maison exploded while a meeting was in progress. Mr Pulé escaped unhurt but a colleague, traffic expert Major Peter Ripard, lost a leg.

A few days later, on December 7, a powerful time bomb was discovered in an abandoned Qormi factory. It did not explode.

A man was seriously injured when a parcel bomb delivered to his Qormi apartment exploded on December 22, 2009. His wife and eight-year-old grandson were standing close to him but escaped uninjured.

On December 28, 1977, 15-year-old Karin Grech died when she opened a letter bomb addressed to her father, thinking it was a Christmas present.