Suspected Scheme to Attack Belgian PM Foiled
Belgium's police have detained three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the alleged plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and other elected representatives.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the prime minister's private residence, officials found a alleged IED and proof that the accused were planning to deploy a drone.
While the planned victims of the assault were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was one of them.
"The news of a intended assault aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot wrote in a post on X on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three suspects arrested on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all live in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one person was let go, while the other suspects were under interrogation and likely to face a judge on the following day.
The prosecution stated that the accused were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their dwellings in the location by officials backed by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these raids that they located a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Raids also found a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
The prosecutor said that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the nation in the current year - surpassing the total number of instances in 2024.
During the spring, five people were convicted for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
