Suspected Scheme to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgian police have detained three people suspected of plotting an strike on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors labeled the suspected plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and fellow politicians.
During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's home, authorities found a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were intending to deploy a drone.
While the planned victims of the assault were not officially named by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"The news of a premeditated assault targeting PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official stated in a message on X on Thursday.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a serious extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three individuals arrested on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the functions of a terrorist group all are based in Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
On late Thursday, one suspect was freed, while two others were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on Friday.
The prosecution stated that the individuals were arrested after a magistrate ordered raids of their residences in the urban area by police officers backed by explosive sniffer dogs.
In the course of these searches that they discovered a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor said that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in the nation in the current year - more than the total number of instances in last year.
In April, five people were convicted for a 2023 plot to attack Belgium's leader while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.
