Suspected Plan to Target Belgian PM Foiled
Belgian law enforcement have detained three people suspected of plotting an attack on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the reported plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and fellow government officials.
During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, close to the prime minister's home, officials discovered a suspected homemade bomb and proof that the individuals were preparing to use a drone.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was among them.
"Reports of a intended strike directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official wrote in a post on X on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three suspects detained on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the operations of a jihadist network all reside in Antwerp, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
On Thursday evening, one of the individuals was let go, while two others were undergoing questioning and likely to appear in court on the next day.
Federal prosecutors said that the individuals were detained after a magistrate authorized searches of their homes in the location by law enforcement assisted by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these searches that they found a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen said at a press conference on Thursday.
Raids also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The official stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in the country this year - more than the overall count of investigations in the previous year.
During the spring, five suspects were found guilty for a scheme last year to strike the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
