Alleged Plan to Attack Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's law enforcement have taken into custody three people suspected of plotting an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities labeled the alleged plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and additional elected representatives.
During searches conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the PM's personal dwelling, officials uncovered a potential IED and indications that the accused were planning to deploy a drone.
While the planned victims of the strike were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was included in the targets.
"Reports of a premeditated strike targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister declared in a message on X on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are facing a genuine terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three people detained on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the activities of a terrorist group all reside in Antwerp, according to the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
On late Thursday, one suspect was released, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and likely to appear in court on the following day.
The prosecution revealed that the suspects were taken into custody after a court official directed raids of their homes in the city by police officers supported by bomb detection canines.
It was during these searches that they found a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also found a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in the nation this year - more than the full amount of investigations in last year.
In April, five suspects were sentenced for a 2023 plot to strike De Wever while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.
