Reported Plot to Attack Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgium's police have taken into custody three people allegedly involved in planning an strike on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the reported plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the PM and additional government officials.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the prime minister's personal dwelling, authorities discovered a potential improvised explosive device and proof that the individuals were planning to employ a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.
"Reports of a planned strike directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official declared in a update on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three individuals taken into custody on charges of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the functions of a terrorist group all live in the city of Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
As of Thursday evening, one suspect was let go, while two others were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on the following day.
The prosecution stated that the suspects were detained after a magistrate ordered searches of their dwellings in the location by officials backed by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they located a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on the day of the events.
Investigations also revealed a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she noted.
The official stated that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in Belgium this year - exceeding the full amount of cases in the previous year.
In April, five individuals were sentenced for a 2023 plot to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.
