Reported Plan to Attack Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's authorities have detained three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an assault on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the alleged plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and other government officials.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's private residence, authorities uncovered a potential improvised explosive device and proof that the individuals were preparing to employ a UAV.
While the intended targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was one of them.
"Information of a planned attack directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the deputy prime minister declared in a update on social media on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a serious terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he added.
The three suspects detained on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the activities of a extremist organization all are based in Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
As of Thursday evening, one of the individuals was freed, while the remaining two were under interrogation and scheduled to face a judge on the following day.
Legal authorities said that the suspects were arrested after a court official authorized inspections of their residences in the urban area by police officers backed by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these searches that they found a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Raids also uncovered a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The official stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the nation in the current year - exceeding the full amount of cases in the previous year.
Earlier this year, five individuals were sentenced for a 2023 plot to attack De Wever while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
