Suspected Plan to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's police have arrested three people suspected of conspiring to carry out an strike on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities characterized the alleged scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and other politicians.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, in proximity to the prime minister's private residence, authorities discovered a potential IED and proof that the individuals were intending to deploy a drone.
While the prospective targets of the strike were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was one of them.
"Information of a premeditated attack directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister wrote in a message on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three people arrested on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the functions of a jihadist network all are based in the city of Antwerp, per the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
On the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was let go, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
The prosecution said that the accused were taken into custody after a judge ordered raids of their dwellings in the urban area by law enforcement supported by explosives-trained dogs.
Throughout these raids that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on Thursday.
Raids also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.
The prosecutor stated that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in the country in the current year - exceeding the full amount of instances in the previous year.
In April, five suspects were sentenced for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
