Police have arrested three men for a spate of bombings in the Durban area and an incendiary device planted at a mosque in Verulam‚ Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Friday.

The arrests were made on Friday afternoon‚ said national police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo.

Cele said the arrests were linked to bomb threats and the discovery of incendiary devices‚ largely targeting Woolworths stores‚ in July and August. Some of the incendiary devices - rudimentary in nature - were triggered and caused minor fires.

A number of stores were temporarily closed following anonymous bomb threats.

The incidents prompted Woolworths to implement a search process at its Durban stores for the "safety and protection" of customers. Woolworths had also deployed additional uniformed security guards at all stores in KwaZulu-Natal.

The national retailer worked with a team that included the police‚ the Hawks’ crimes against the state unit‚ local and national government departments and its own investigators to apprehending the culprits.

Cele said more arrests were expected.