Reported Plan to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Prevented
Belgium's law enforcement have arrested three individuals suspected of conspiring to carry out an attack on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors characterized the alleged plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and additional government officials.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the prime minister's private residence, officials discovered a potential IED and proof that the suspects were preparing to use a drone.
While the intended targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was among them.
"Reports of a intended attack targeting Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister declared in a message on online platforms on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are facing a very real terrorism risk and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three individuals taken into custody on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all reside in the city of Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
On the evening of the arrests, one person was freed, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and expected to be presented before a court on Friday.
Legal authorities said that the suspects were taken into custody after a magistrate authorized inspections of their dwellings in the urban area by law enforcement backed by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these investigations that they discovered a object which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on the day of the events.
Searches also found a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in Belgium this year - exceeding the total number of cases in the previous year.
In April, five individuals were sentenced for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.
