Suspected Scheme to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Prevented
Belgian authorities have arrested three individuals suspected of conspiring to carry out an assault on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the reported plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and additional elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the PM's personal dwelling, officials discovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were intending to use a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the attack were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that Belgium's leader was one of them.
"Information of a planned attack aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot stated in a update on online platforms on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three individuals arrested on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the operations of a terrorist group all live in the city of Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one suspect was let go, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to be presented before a court on Friday.
Legal authorities revealed that the suspects were taken into custody after a magistrate authorized searches of their homes in the city by law enforcement backed by explosives-trained dogs.
Throughout these searches that they discovered a object which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen said at a news conference on the day of the events.
Searches also revealed a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The prosecutor stated that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in Belgium so far this year - surpassing the full amount of cases in 2024.
In April, five people were found guilty for a scheme last year to attack the prime minister while he was holding the position of Antwerp's mayor.
