Suspected Scheme to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgian law enforcement have detained three people allegedly involved in plotting an strike on the nation's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the alleged plot as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and additional government officials.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the premier's personal dwelling, authorities discovered a alleged IED and indications that the individuals were intending to employ a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the prospective targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"Information of a planned strike aimed at PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister declared in a message on X on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three people arrested on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the operations of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was let go, while the remaining two were under interrogation and expected to be presented before a court on the next day.
Federal prosecutors said that the individuals were detained after a judge ordered searches of their homes in the urban area by officials assisted by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these raids that they found a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on that day.
Investigations also revealed a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she added.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the nation so far this year - more than the full amount of instances in the previous year.
During the spring, five people were sentenced for a 2023 plot to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.
