Updated | Four arrested in connection to unexploded Fgura car bomb

Updated at 12.01pm with police statement

Four people have been arrested in connection with a failed car-bomb attack in Fgura earlier this year.

The police said the four men were arrested during an operation that started early in the morning. Three men are from Birzebbuga and one is from Xghajra.

Police searches in various localities linked to the individuals are ongoing.

The home affairs minister Michael Farrugia announced on Twitter that the big operation involved the Malta police force, the Armed Forces of Malta, and the Malta Security Services.

Well done and thank you in the name of the people of Malta and Gozo to the Malta Police, Security Service and the Armed Forces of Malta for a job well done today after weeks of investigations

— Michael Farrugia (@dr_micfarr) March 15, 2018

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said investigations had lead to improtant arrests and breakthroughs in the fight against crime.

@MaltaPolice @Armed_Forces_MT Security Services joint operation following weeks of investigations has led to arrests and important breakthroughs in fight against crime. Well done to the women and men of #Malta law enforcement arms -JM @dr_micfarr

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) March 15, 2018

Back in January, the army had been called in to defuse a car bomb that failed to explode in Fgura. The car, a Mitsubishi Pajero, was parked in St Anthony street and a strange noise is believed to have triggered the suspicion that it had a bomb attached to it. Residents in the area told MaltaToday they heard a "loud spark".

The bomb appears to have been activated, although it failed to trigger an explosion, which could have had serious consequences in the residential area.

The car belonged to a man known to the police. Initial reports say that the bomb was different to the one that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia last October.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera led the inquiry.