Alleged Plot to Strike Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgian law enforcement have arrested three individuals suspected of plotting an attack on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities characterized the alleged plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and additional politicians.
During searches conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's personal dwelling, officials uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the suspects were intending to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the intended targets of the strike were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"Reports of a intended attack directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official wrote in a update on X on Thursday.
"This underscores that we are confronting a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he concluded.
The three suspects detained on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the operations of a terrorist group all are based in Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
By Thursday evening, one suspect was let go, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and likely to appear in court on the next day.
Legal authorities said that the accused were detained after a judge authorized inspections of their homes in the city by police officers assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
In the course of these raids that they located a object which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen said at a press conference on that day.
Investigations also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she added.
The prosecutor said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the country this year - more than the total number of investigations in 2024.
In April, five individuals were sentenced for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
