Alleged Plan to Target Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgian law enforcement have taken into custody three individuals suspected of plotting an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the suspected scheme as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and other elected representatives.
During searches conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's personal dwelling, officials uncovered a alleged IED and proof that the accused were intending to employ a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.
"The news of a planned assault directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a post on X on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are confronting a genuine extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three people detained on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the activities of a jihadist network all live in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were born in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By Thursday evening, one of the individuals was freed, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and expected to be presented before a court on the next day.
Legal authorities stated that the individuals were arrested after a court official authorized inspections of their residences in the city by officials assisted by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these raids that they discovered a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on that day.
Raids also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
The official said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in Belgium in the current year - more than the total number of investigations in last year.
During the spring, five individuals were found guilty for a scheme last year to attack Belgium's leader while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
