Alleged Scheme to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Thwarted
Belgium's authorities have detained three suspects accused of plotting an strike on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the alleged scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and other politicians.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the prime minister's home, investigators found a alleged IED and evidence that the accused were planning to use a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"The news of a premeditated assault directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot declared in a update on social media on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real terrorism risk and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three suspects taken into custody on suspicion of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the operations of a terrorist group all are based in the Antwerp region, according to the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one person was let go, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and likely to be presented before a court on the following day.
The prosecution said that the individuals were detained after a court official authorized inspections of their dwellings in the location by officials backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these investigations that they located a item which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in the nation this year - more than the overall count of investigations in 2024.
During the spring, five suspects were sentenced for a scheme last year to attack the prime minister while he was acting as the mayor of Antwerp.
