Suspected Scheme to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's law enforcement have taken into custody three individuals allegedly involved in conspiring to carry out an strike on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors labeled the reported plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and other politicians.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the premier's home, authorities discovered a alleged IED and evidence that the accused were planning to deploy a drone.
While the intended targets of the strike were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was one of them.
"Reports of a intended assault directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a post on X on the investigation day.
"This underscores that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three people taken into custody on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the activities of a terrorist group all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of late Thursday, one person was released, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to be presented before a court on the next day.
The prosecution revealed that the accused were taken into custody after a court official authorized searches of their residences in the location by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they found a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on that day.
Investigations also found a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The prosecutor stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in Belgium this year - surpassing the full amount of cases in 2024.
Earlier this year, five individuals were convicted for a scheme last year to strike De Wever while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
