Reported Plot to Strike Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgium's police have detained three suspects accused of planning an assault on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and additional elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's private residence, officials discovered a suspected IED and proof that the accused were intending to use a drone.
While the planned victims of the assault were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was one of them.
"The news of a intended attack aimed at PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official stated in a post on social media on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are confronting a serious terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he concluded.
The three individuals arrested on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the operations of a jihadist network all live in Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
On late Thursday, one person was let go, while the other suspects were under interrogation and scheduled to face a judge on the following day.
The prosecution revealed that the individuals were detained after a magistrate ordered raids of their homes in the urban area by officials assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these searches that they located a item which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in Belgium in the current year - exceeding the overall count of instances in 2024.
During the spring, five suspects were convicted for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.