Alleged Plot to Attack Belgian PM Foiled
Belgian police have arrested three people accused of planning an strike on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the suspected scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and other politicians.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the prime minister's private residence, investigators discovered a alleged improvised explosive device and evidence that the suspects were planning to employ a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot confirmed that Belgium's leader was among them.
"Reports of a premeditated strike directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister wrote in a message on social media on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are confronting a serious extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three people arrested on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the functions of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the legal authorities. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one person was released, while the remaining two were under interrogation and scheduled to face a judge on the following day.
The prosecution stated that the suspects were arrested after a judge authorized raids of their dwellings in the city by law enforcement backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these investigations that they discovered a device which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on Thursday.
Raids also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The prosecutor said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in Belgium so far this year - more than the overall count of investigations in 2024.
During the spring, five people were convicted for a 2023 plot to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
