The use of bombs as payback: nine attacks since 2010

A bomb planted inside a Mitsubishi Pajero claimed the life of 67-year-old John Camilleri on Monday morning, making him the sixteenth target of a bomb attack since 2010.

While police are still not sure how the explosive device could have been placed inside the car without raising any alarms, investigators are looking into Camilleri’s past, including his business connections, in an attempt to identify a motive.

Camilleri had just left his partner’s apartment when the car blew up in Triq Paderborn, Bugibba.

The police appear to be treating this case separately from other bomb attacks, with sources arguing that the modus operandi was different. Nonetheless, this is the third case this year where a bomb was used to target the victim – and the sixteenth over the past six years.

The motive behind all attacks remain mostly unknown to the media and the public, although the main suspicions always lead to individuals who are, in one way or another, linked to the smuggling of diesel, drug trafficking and usury.

The majority of cases remain shrouded in mystery

Among the most noteworthy is the incident that took place in September when 37-year-old Josef Cassar lost both legs when a bomb that was planted underneath his van exploded on the busy Marsa road during the evening rush hour.

In March, no one was injured when an explosive device detonated at a boathouse in Armier, belonging to a 38-year-old man from Attard.

In January, Martin Cachia, 56, was killed after a bomb destroyed the car he was driving. Cachia had a pending court case in connection with human trafficking and was involved in a number of court cases in connection with drugs, contraband cigarettes and human smuggling.

Cachia, who was also a registered fisherman, was investigated in connection with smuggling of fuel from Libya. As far as is public known, it was never concluded whether Cachia had been carrying the bomb or whether it had been planted in his car.

In July last year, a bomb was placed outside the Toyota Showroom in Haz-Zebbug. While no one was injured in the blast, the bomb caused damage to the old showroom. Witnesses said that the explosion sounded like a petard – however police sources excluded that pyrotechnic materials had been used.

In 2014, restaurant owner Darren Degabriele was also killed by a bomb that had been placed underneath the car he was driving. Degabriele, apart from owning a Marsaxlokk restaurant, was the owner of Degabriele Fuels and operated a boat which made frequent trips to Misurata, Libya.

Darren Degabriele and his partner Stephanie Tonna were targeted in a car bomb explosion. Photo: Facebook

Sources at the time said that Degabriele was known to the police and suspected the bomb of having been detonated remotely, potentially using a mobile phone.

Also in 2014, a bomb was placed outside police inspector Geoffrey Azzopardi’s home in Zurrieq. Luckily, no injuries were reported on this occasion. The bomb was placed outside the residence’s garage door, which was blown off with the blast.

Police inspector Geoffrey Azzopardi

The scene of the attack on Inspector Geoffrey Azzopardi's house in Zurrieq. Photo: John Pisani

Azzopardi was at the time known to be in charge of the Police EU funds unit at the Floriana headquarters and was formerly a CID officer. Sources close to the investigation had also said that no ball bearings or metal shrapnel were found inside the bomb and that it had most likely been made using pyrotechnic materials.

In the same year, bomb maker Pietru Cassar was shot dead in his residence. Cassar, known as 'il-Haqqa', was a well-known explosives specialist who is thought to have manufactured a number of bombs at the height of the political tensions in the 80s.

Cassar's murder was at the time linked to a series of bomb attacks which targeted well-known criminals such as Keith Galea and Paul Degabriele, known as is-Suldat, in 2012.

Crime scene – the dead body of Pietru Cassar, 'il-Haqqa', at the scene of the crime police investigation

He was also believed to have been connected with a bomb placed outside Transport Malta offices in 2010.

In September 2013, Pierre Cremona and William Farrugia narrowly escaped injury when an explosive device, which was attached to a mobile phone, exploded outside a boathouse the two were in.

The pair had managed to escape before the bomb went off. Sources close to the investigation, at the time had said that the bomb was very similar to that placed under Paul Degabriele’s pick-up truck.

In 2012, Degabriele’s van was targeted by a parcel bomb. Degabriele – who would be shot dead a year later in Marsa – had been alerted to the bomb and reported it to the police.

The late Paul Degabriele and his wife, Anna Marie. Photo: Facebook

The bomb consisted of three, welded metal cylinders heavily packed with explosive powder, believed to be the same used in the manufacture of fireworks.

In November 2011, Keith Galea’s car had also been destroyed by a parcel bomb, three days after he was released from prison. Explosives experts had said that the indications were that the bomb had been detonated using a mobile phone and was made with highly explosive material such as TNT or dynamite, which also indicated a high level of sophistication in its fabrication.

A month later, in December 2010, a bomb blew up outside Transport Malta offices. The bomb was believed to have been intended for then head of the land transport section, Konrad Pule. The bomb was also believed to have been constructed in sophisticated manner, and was made using TNT.