Alleged Scheme to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's authorities have detained three people accused of planning an attack on the government's PM, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the alleged scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and other government officials.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's personal dwelling, authorities discovered a potential IED and indications that the suspects were planning to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was among them.
"The news of a premeditated assault targeting Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot declared in a message on social media on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three suspects taken into custody on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the activities of a extremist organization all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was freed, while two others were under interrogation and scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Legal authorities stated that the accused were arrested after a court official directed raids of their homes in the location by officials supported by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these raids that they located a item which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on that day.
Raids also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
Fransen stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the country this year - more than the full amount of cases in 2024.
During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a scheme last year to attack De Wever while he was serving as the city's chief executive.