LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The police in Malta has arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicions of having placed a homemade bomb outside the Labour Party’s headquarters on Thursday. The explosive device was found inside a waste bin outside of the building.
The suspect was identified through CCTV footage, with sources saying that police had received reports of the man “acting oddly” in various other places on Thursday. He was wearing the same clothes as the person spotted on CCTV outside Labour Headquarters.
The Police confirmed that the suspect had been arrested from a site in Triq Guze Pace in Sta Venera. Explosive material was also found and the residents of the apartment block on top of it were evacuated from their homes as a precaution.
The material found in the garage is known as TATP, a volatile explosive that is also called ‘mother of Satan’. It is often used in terrorist attacks as it is potent and can be made out of household supplies.
Residents who spent the night out of their homes are expected to be able to return there later this morning.
An explosives team was called on Thursday after the building’s security officials spotted what was described as a “small device” outside the Labour Party’s headquarters.
Neighbours also reported hearing a “small explosion” coming from a dust bin very early on Thursday morning. No one was injured in the incident but the building was evacuated while a police investigation was conducted.
The building was given the all-clear for people to return by 1pm yesterday.
The situation in Malta at the moment is quite tense after criminal proceedings started this week against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, former Ministers Konrad Mizzi, Chris Fearne and Edward Scicluna, and against former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri All of them, together with others, are facing serious criminal charges in relation to the fraudulent agreement for the privatization of three public hospitals.
Malta will vote for the next EP and local council elections on June, 8.
-photo Agenzia Fotogramma –
(ITALPRESS)
