Suspected Scheme to Strike Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's law enforcement have taken into custody three individuals suspected of conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and other elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the PM's personal dwelling, authorities uncovered a suspected IED and proof that the accused were preparing to employ a drone.
While the planned victims of the attack were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was one of them.
"The news of a intended attack aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," Prevot wrote in a post on X on Thursday.
"It highlights that we are facing a serious terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he concluded.
The three suspects detained on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the activities of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one person was released, while the other suspects were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on the next day.
The prosecution revealed that the accused were detained after a judge authorized inspections of their dwellings in the location by police officers supported by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these investigations that they located a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on that day.
Searches also uncovered a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The prosecutor stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in the nation so far this year - exceeding the total number of investigations in 2024.
During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
