Reported Plot to Target Belgian Prime Minister Thwarted
Belgian authorities have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in plotting an attack on the nation's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities labeled the reported scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and fellow government officials.
During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the PM's home, authorities found a alleged IED and proof that the suspects were planning to use a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot confirmed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"Reports of a premeditated strike aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a update on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are confronting a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three individuals taken into custody on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and involvement in the operations of a jihadist network all reside in Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By Thursday evening, one suspect was freed, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to appear in court on the following day.
Federal prosecutors stated that the individuals were detained after a judge ordered raids of their homes in the urban area by officials assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these raids that they discovered a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on that day.
Searches also found a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
Fransen disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the nation in the current year - more than the total number of investigations in the previous year.
During the spring, five suspects were convicted for a previous year's plan to attack the prime minister while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
