Reported Plot to Attack Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgium's law enforcement have taken into custody three suspects suspected of planning an strike on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the reported scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and fellow elected representatives.
During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, close to the prime minister's home, officials found a suspected improvised explosive device and indications that the individuals were preparing to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the prospective targets of the assault were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was one of them.
"Reports of a premeditated strike directed toward PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot declared in a message on online platforms on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a genuine extremist danger and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three individuals taken into custody on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the functions of a terrorist group all live in the city of Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
On the evening of the arrests, one person was let go, while two others were under interrogation and scheduled to be presented before a court on Friday.
Federal prosecutors stated that the suspects were detained after a magistrate ordered raids of their residences in the urban area by officials backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these searches that they located a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also found a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she added.
The prosecutor said that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the country in the current year - surpassing the total number of cases in last year.
During the spring, five people were convicted for a 2023 plot to target De Wever while he was holding the position of Antwerp's mayor.
