Reported Plot to Strike Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgian police have taken into custody three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the reported plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and fellow politicians.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the PM's personal dwelling, officials found a alleged homemade bomb and indications that the suspects were intending to deploy a drone.
While the planned victims of the assault were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was included in the targets.
"Information of a intended attack targeting Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a update on X on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a serious extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three suspects arrested on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the functions of a terrorist group all are based in the Antwerp region, per the federal prosecutors. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
As of the evening of the arrests, one suspect was let go, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to be presented before a court on the following day.
The prosecution said that the accused were taken into custody after a court official directed searches of their residences in the city by law enforcement backed by bomb detection canines.
It was during these searches that they found a device which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on the day of the events.
Searches also revealed a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she added.
The official stated that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the nation this year - surpassing the overall count of instances in the previous year.
In April, five people were sentenced for a 2023 plot to strike the prime minister while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.
