Reported Plot to Target Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's authorities have detained three individuals allegedly involved in planning an strike on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the alleged plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and fellow politicians.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the premier's personal dwelling, officials discovered a alleged improvised explosive device and proof that the suspects were intending to deploy a drone.
While the intended targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was among them.
"Reports of a planned attack aimed at PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot declared in a update on social media on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are confronting a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he added.
The three people taken into custody on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all reside in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
On Thursday evening, one of the individuals was released, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and scheduled to face a judge on the following day.
The prosecution revealed that the suspects were detained after a court official directed raids of their homes in the urban area by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these raids that they located a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen said at a news conference on that day.
Raids also found a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The official said that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the nation this year - surpassing the full amount of cases in 2024.
During the spring, five people were found guilty for a previous year's plan to attack De Wever while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
