Suspected Plot to Strike Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgium's law enforcement have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in plotting an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the suspected plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and additional government officials.
During searches conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's home, authorities uncovered a alleged homemade bomb and proof that the suspects were intending to employ a drone.
While the intended targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was among them.
"Information of a premeditated attack directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official declared in a message on social media on the day of the arrests.
"It highlights that we are facing a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he concluded.
The three individuals detained on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the operations of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.
On the evening of the arrests, one suspect was freed, while the other suspects were still being questioned and scheduled to appear in court on the next day.
Legal authorities revealed that the suspects were arrested after a magistrate authorized raids of their dwellings in the city by law enforcement assisted by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these raids that they located a device which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on that day.
Raids also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.
Fransen said that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in the nation in the current year - more than the full amount of investigations in last year.
Earlier this year, five suspects were convicted for a 2023 plot to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of Antwerp's mayor.
