Suspected Plan to Strike Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgium's police have detained three individuals accused of planning an strike on the government's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and additional politicians.
During searches conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the premier's home, investigators found a suspected improvised explosive device and indications that the individuals were preparing to employ a UAV.
While the intended targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was among them.
"The news of a planned strike directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official stated in a message on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are facing a serious extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three suspects taken into custody on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the activities of a jihadist network all live in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the federal prosecutors. They were born in the early 2000s.
By Thursday evening, one person was let go, while two others were under interrogation and likely to appear in court on the following day.
Federal prosecutors revealed that the accused were taken into custody after a magistrate ordered searches of their homes in the city by police officers assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
Throughout these investigations that they located a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on Thursday.
Investigations also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
The official stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in Belgium in the current year - exceeding the total number of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five suspects were sentenced for a scheme last year to attack the prime minister while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
