Reported Scheme to Strike Belgian PM Prevented
Belgian police have arrested three people allegedly involved in planning an assault on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the reported plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and additional government officials.
During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the premier's home, authorities found a alleged homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were preparing to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the assault were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was among them.
"Reports of a intended attack directed toward PM Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," Prevot declared in a message on X on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are facing a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three people detained on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all reside in Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were born in the early 2000s.
On Thursday evening, one of the individuals was freed, while two others were under interrogation and likely to face a judge on Friday.
Legal authorities said that the suspects were detained after a judge authorized inspections of their dwellings in the location by law enforcement supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they found a object which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Investigations also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the nation this year - exceeding the full amount of cases in last year.
In April, five individuals were sentenced for a scheme last year to target the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.