Alleged Plot to Target Belgian PM Thwarted
Belgian law enforcement have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the reported scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and other government officials.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's private residence, investigators uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and evidence that the accused were intending to deploy a UAV.
While the planned victims of the assault were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was among them.
"The news of a premeditated attack aimed at PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a update on X on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are dealing with a genuine terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three suspects arrested on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all are based in the city of Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were born in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
As of Thursday evening, one suspect was freed, while the other suspects were still being questioned and likely to appear in court on the next day.
The prosecution stated that the accused were taken into custody after a magistrate ordered inspections of their residences in the city by officials supported by bomb detection canines.
It was during these raids that they found a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on that day.
Raids also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in the nation this year - more than the full amount of instances in last year.
During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a previous year's plan to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
