Suspected Scheme to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Prevented
Belgium's police have arrested three individuals accused of planning an attack on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the reported plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the premier and other politicians.
During investigations conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the premier's private residence, authorities discovered a suspected homemade bomb and evidence that the accused were preparing to employ a drone.
While the prospective targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was among them.
"Reports of a planned attack directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot wrote in a post on X on Thursday.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he concluded.
The three people arrested on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the functions of a terrorist group all are based in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
On late Thursday, one person was freed, while two others were still being questioned and likely to appear in court on the next day.
The prosecution revealed that the suspects were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their homes in the location by officials backed by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they discovered a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on that day.
Investigations also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in Belgium this year - surpassing the overall count of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five individuals were found guilty for a previous year's plan to attack the prime minister while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.
