Reported Plan to Attack Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three suspects accused of conspiring to carry out an attack on the nation's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the alleged plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and additional politicians.
During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, close to the PM's home, officials discovered a alleged IED and proof that the suspects were planning to employ a drone.
While the planned victims of the attack were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"The news of a planned assault directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister stated in a update on online platforms on Thursday.
"This underscores that we are facing a very real terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three suspects arrested on charges of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a terrorist group all are based in the Antwerp region, according to the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
As of Thursday evening, one of the individuals was freed, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and expected to appear in court on the following day.
Legal authorities said that the suspects were detained after a court official directed inspections of their residences in the location by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these raids that they found a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on Thursday.
Searches also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The prosecutor said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in the country in the current year - exceeding the overall count of investigations in 2024.
During the spring, five suspects were found guilty for a scheme last year to strike De Wever while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
