Suspected Plot to Target Belgian PM Foiled
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three individuals accused of conspiring to carry out an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities labeled the reported plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the premier and other politicians.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the prime minister's home, investigators uncovered a alleged homemade bomb and evidence that the suspects were planning to deploy a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was one of them.
"Information of a intended assault directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot stated in a update on X on the day of the arrests.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a very real terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three people detained on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the activities of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, according to the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.
By the evening of the arrests, one person was released, while the remaining two were still being questioned and expected to appear in court on the following day.
The prosecution stated that the individuals were taken into custody after a magistrate ordered raids of their dwellings in the city by law enforcement supported by explosives-trained dogs.
Throughout these searches that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also found a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in the country so far this year - exceeding the total number of instances in last year.
Earlier this year, five individuals were sentenced for a previous year's plan to attack De Wever while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
