Reported Plan to Target Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgian law enforcement have taken into custody three people allegedly involved in conspiring to carry out an assault on the government's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the reported plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the PM and other politicians.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the PM's private residence, investigators discovered a alleged IED and evidence that the accused were preparing to use a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was one of them.
"Information of a intended assault aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," Prevot declared in a message on X on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three individuals arrested on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a extremist organization all reside in Antwerp, as stated by the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was let go, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and likely to be presented before a court on the next day.
Legal authorities revealed that the accused were taken into custody after a court official ordered raids of their homes in the location by law enforcement assisted by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these investigations that they located a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a press conference on that day.
Investigations also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
Fransen said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in the country so far this year - exceeding the overall count of instances in 2024.
In April, five individuals were convicted for a 2023 plot to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
