Reported Plot to Target Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgian police have arrested three people suspected of planning an assault on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the alleged plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the PM and additional elected representatives.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, in proximity to the premier's personal dwelling, officials found a suspected IED and proof that the accused were intending to use a drone.
While the intended targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"Information of a premeditated attack aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official wrote in a update on social media on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three individuals detained on suspicion of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the operations of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, according to the legal authorities. They were born in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
On late Thursday, one of the individuals was freed, while the other suspects were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on Friday.
Legal authorities said that the suspects were arrested after a court official ordered searches of their homes in the location by law enforcement backed by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these searches that they discovered a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on Thursday.
Raids also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in the nation so far this year - more than the total number of investigations in 2024.
During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a previous year's plan to attack the prime minister while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
