Suspected Plan to Attack Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's law enforcement have arrested three suspects accused of plotting an assault on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors characterized the alleged plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and additional elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the prime minister's private residence, officials found a potential improvised explosive device and proof that the suspects were planning to employ a UAV.
While the planned victims of the strike were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"Information of a premeditated attack targeting Premier Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," Prevot wrote in a message on X on the day of the arrests.
"It emphasizes that we are facing a genuine extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three suspects arrested on charges of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the operations of a terrorist group all reside in the Antwerp region, per the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of Thursday evening, one suspect was let go, while two others were still being questioned and scheduled to appear in court on the following day.
Legal authorities said that the individuals were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their dwellings in the urban area by police officers supported by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these raids that they located a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on that day.
Investigations also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in the nation so far this year - more than the full amount of cases in 2024.
Earlier this year, five people were convicted for a scheme last year to target De Wever while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
