Alleged Plot to Attack Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's police have arrested three individuals accused of conspiring to carry out an assault on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the alleged scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and fellow politicians.
During searches conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the prime minister's private residence, authorities discovered a suspected improvised explosive device and proof that the individuals were intending to employ a drone.
While the prospective targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was one of them.
"The news of a planned attack directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a post on X on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are dealing with a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he concluded.
The three suspects detained on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the activities of a jihadist network all live in Antwerp, per the prosecutor's office. They were born in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one suspect was freed, while the remaining two were under interrogation and scheduled to be presented before a court on Friday.
Legal authorities stated that the suspects were detained after a judge directed searches of their dwellings in the location by law enforcement supported by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these investigations that they found a device which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Investigations also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
The prosecutor stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in the nation in the current year - surpassing the full amount of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five individuals were convicted for a previous year's plan to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
