Suspected Plot to Target Belgian PM Foiled
Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three people accused of planning an assault on the nation's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the reported plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and additional elected representatives.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's personal dwelling, officials discovered a alleged homemade bomb and proof that the individuals were preparing to deploy a UAV.
While the planned victims of the assault were not officially named by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"The news of a premeditated strike targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister stated in a post on X on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three suspects taken into custody on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and involvement in the operations of a jihadist network all are based in Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one person was released, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Federal prosecutors said that the suspects were arrested after a court official authorized inspections of their dwellings in the city by police officers assisted by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these investigations that they discovered a item which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a press conference on that day.
Searches also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she added.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in Belgium in the current year - more than the total number of cases in 2024.
During the spring, five people were found guilty for a previous year's plan to target the prime minister while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.
