Suspected Scheme to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three suspects suspected of planning an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the alleged plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the premier and fellow politicians.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the prime minister's home, officials discovered a potential improvised explosive device and proof that the accused were intending to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the intended targets of the assault were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was among them.
"Reports of a planned attack targeting PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot stated in a message on social media on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three people taken into custody on suspicion of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the activities of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were born in the early 2000s.
By late Thursday, one suspect was freed, while the remaining two were still being questioned and expected to appear in court on the following day.
Federal prosecutors revealed that the accused were taken into custody after a court official authorized searches of their dwellings in the city by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these raids that they discovered a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on that day.
Searches also revealed a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The official said that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in Belgium in the current year - surpassing the overall count of cases in the previous year.
During the spring, five individuals were convicted for a 2023 plot to attack De Wever while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
