Suspected Plot to Strike Belgian PM Thwarted
Belgium's law enforcement have arrested three individuals suspected of planning an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the suspected plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and fellow government officials.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, close to the PM's personal dwelling, officials discovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were planning to deploy a drone.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"The news of a premeditated assault aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official wrote in a post on X on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are confronting a serious extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three people taken into custody on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a extremist organization all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.
As of late Thursday, one person was freed, while two others were undergoing questioning and likely to appear in court on Friday.
Legal authorities stated that the suspects were taken into custody after a court official ordered inspections of their dwellings in the urban area by police officers supported by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these investigations that they found a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also found a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
Fransen stated that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in the country this year - more than the full amount of investigations in the previous year.
Earlier this year, five individuals were found guilty for a previous year's plan to strike Belgium's leader while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.