Alleged Plot to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three suspects allegedly involved in planning an assault on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the reported plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and other politicians.
During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, close to the premier's home, officials found a potential homemade bomb and indications that the suspects were intending to use a UAV.
While the intended targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.
"Reports of a planned strike targeting PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister stated in a update on online platforms on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are facing a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three suspects taken into custody on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the functions of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were born in the early 2000s.
By late Thursday, one person was released, while two others were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on the following day.
The prosecution stated that the individuals were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their homes in the location by police officers supported by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these searches that they found a device which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", federal prosecutor Ann Fransen said at a media briefing on that day.
Investigations also found a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she continued.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in the nation in the current year - more than the overall count of investigations in the previous year.
During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a scheme last year to attack De Wever while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.
