Suspected Scheme to Attack Belgian PM Prevented
Belgium's police have taken into custody three individuals suspected of conspiring to carry out an strike on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors described the suspected plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and additional elected representatives.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's personal dwelling, authorities uncovered a suspected improvised explosive device and evidence that the suspects were preparing to use a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the intended targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was one of them.
"Information of a premeditated strike aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot wrote in a message on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a very real terrorism risk and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three people detained on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the activities of a jihadist network all reside in the Antwerp region, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By the evening of the arrests, one suspect was freed, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and scheduled to be presented before a court on the next day.
Federal prosecutors stated that the accused were arrested after a court official ordered searches of their homes in the location by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
Throughout these investigations that they found a object which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on that day.
Searches also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
Fransen stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in the nation in the current year - more than the full amount of investigations in the previous year.
During the spring, five suspects were sentenced for a scheme last year to target De Wever while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
