Alleged Plot to Target Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgian authorities have detained three individuals suspected of plotting an strike on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors labeled the alleged plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and additional politicians.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the PM's personal dwelling, investigators uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and proof that the individuals were intending to use a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was one of them.
"Reports of a planned strike targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official wrote in a update on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are confronting a serious terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he added.
The three people detained on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the operations of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the legal authorities. They were born in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one suspect was let go, while the remaining two were still being questioned and likely to face a judge on the next day.
Legal authorities said that the individuals were arrested after a magistrate directed inspections of their homes in the urban area by police officers backed by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these raids that they discovered a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on that day.
Raids also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the nation so far this year - more than the total number of instances in 2024.
Earlier this year, five suspects were found guilty for a scheme last year to attack Belgium's leader while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
