Suspected Plot to Attack Belgian Prime Minister Thwarted
Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three suspects accused of conspiring to carry out an strike on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the suspected plot as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and fellow politicians.
During searches conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the premier's private residence, officials uncovered a alleged improvised explosive device and evidence that the accused were intending to use a drone.
While the prospective targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was one of them.
"Information of a premeditated strike aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a message on X on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he concluded.
The three people arrested on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the functions of a extremist organization all are based in the Antwerp region, according to the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
By the evening of the arrests, one person was let go, while two others were under interrogation and expected to face a judge on Friday.
The prosecution said that the individuals were detained after a magistrate ordered raids of their residences in the location by police officers supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
In the course of these searches that they located a object which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on Thursday.
Searches also revealed a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in Belgium this year - surpassing the total number of instances in 2024.
During the spring, five suspects were found guilty for a scheme last year to strike De Wever while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.
