Reported Scheme to Target Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgium's law enforcement have detained three individuals accused of planning an strike on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities characterized the suspected scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and fellow elected representatives.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the premier's home, authorities found a alleged homemade bomb and evidence that the accused were preparing to use a drone.
While the planned victims of the strike were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"Reports of a premeditated strike targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister stated in a update on X on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are facing a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three individuals detained on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a extremist organization all live in Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were born in the early 2000s.
On the evening of the arrests, one person was let go, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and likely to face a judge on Friday.
Legal authorities said that the accused were arrested after a judge directed inspections of their residences in the location by officials backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these investigations that they discovered a object which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on the day of the events.
Raids also revealed a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The prosecutor stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in Belgium in the current year - more than the full amount of investigations in 2024.
Earlier this year, five people were found guilty for a scheme last year to target the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
