Suspected Scheme to Strike Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three suspects allegedly involved in conspiring to carry out an attack on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the alleged plot as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and additional elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the PM's personal dwelling, authorities discovered a alleged IED and evidence that the suspects were intending to use a UAV.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"The news of a planned attack aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot declared in a message on online platforms on Thursday.
"This underscores that we are facing a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three people arrested on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the functions of a terrorist group all live in Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one suspect was released, while the remaining two were still being questioned and likely to be presented before a court on Friday.
The prosecution revealed that the individuals were taken into custody after a court official directed searches of their residences in the urban area by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
Throughout these raids that they discovered a item which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen said at a news conference on the day of the events.
Raids also found a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations opened in Belgium in the current year - exceeding the full amount of cases in last year.
During the spring, five people were convicted for a scheme last year to target De Wever while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
