Alleged Plan to Target Belgian PM Prevented
Belgian law enforcement have detained three suspects allegedly involved in plotting an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the reported plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and other government officials.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the premier's personal dwelling, officials discovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were intending to deploy a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was one of them.
"Reports of a premeditated attack targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the deputy prime minister stated in a message on online platforms on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are facing a serious terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three individuals detained on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group all reside in the city of Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.
On Thursday evening, one person was freed, while the remaining two were still being questioned and scheduled to be presented before a court on the following day.
The prosecution said that the individuals were taken into custody after a judge directed searches of their residences in the urban area by law enforcement backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these searches that they found a item which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on Thursday.
Searches also uncovered a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
The official disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in Belgium in the current year - more than the full amount of investigations in last year.
In April, five individuals were convicted for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
