Malta has experienced 19 bomb attacks since 2010, with five people targeted in the last 11 months. Several of these cases are still unsolved, with many cases linked to diesel smuggling, drug trafficking and usury.
This week, Malta has been left in shock after the news of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. A bomb was detonated in Caruana Galizia’s rental car close to her house last Monday. Although the event marks the first time a journalist has been killed, targeting people with explosives is no new concept in Malta.
Daphne Caruana Galizia is the third victim of explosive devices in 2017, and the fifth person to die since 2010. Although explosive devices such as car bombs are on the rise, with more people being targeted each year, most of these cases have not been solved and no action has been taken.
The most recent attack happened on 20 February 2017, when a device was detonated in 40-year-old Romeo Bone’s car. Bone, who was well known to police, lost both legs in the incident but survived.
On 29 January 2017, Victor Calleja, 61, died when a bomb detonated in his car in Marsa. The bomb was believed to have been detonated electronically. Calleja, known as Ic-Chippu, was also well known to police.