For the third time in the past month a pair of terrorists was nabbed Tuesday night trying to smuggle explosives through a checkpoint in northern Samaria.

The two Palestinian Authority residents were arrested after soldiers manning the checkpoint discovered four pipe bombs.

The bombs were destroyed by sappers in a controlled explosion, and the men were taken in for questioning.

Northern Samaria has been a hotbed of terror activities perpetrated by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organization over the past year.

On Monday, soldiers at a checkpoint near Tulkarem arrested two terrorists carrying pipe-bombs, an improvised firearm, knives, and ammunition. On April 11 a nearly identical incident occurred.

On 22 January, a terrorist at a checkpoint between Samaria and Jerusalem was arrested when it was discovered he was carrying a dozen pipe bombs.

Last September, the IDF and General Security Services uncovered a series of Hamas terror cells, each in various stages of planning attacks.

One of the cells was responsible for Last April´s Jerusalem bus stop bombing, which killed one and wounded scores more.

In late January, the GSS and Israel Police foiled a shooting attack planned by an Israeli Arab in collaboration with an Islamic Jihad terror cell from Tulkarem in northern Samaria.

Last August, Islamic Jihad terrorists from Gaza were involved in the deadly cross-border ambush of an Israeli civilian bus that left 8 Israelis – 7 of them civilians – dead. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 04/24/12)