Suspected Plan to Strike Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's authorities have detained three people allegedly involved in plotting an strike on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Prosecutors characterized the alleged plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the PM and other government officials.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the PM's private residence, investigators uncovered a alleged homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were planning to employ a UAV.
While the planned victims of the assault were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that de Wever was among them.
"Reports of a planned assault directed toward PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a post on online platforms on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a serious extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three people taken into custody on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the functions of a terrorist group all reside in the Antwerp region, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.
By late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while the remaining two were under interrogation and expected to be presented before a court on the following day.
Legal authorities revealed that the suspects were detained after a magistrate authorized inspections of their dwellings in the location by police officers assisted by bomb detection canines.
In the course of these searches that they found a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on Thursday.
Investigations also found a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
Fransen stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the country this year - exceeding the total number of cases in 2024.
Earlier this year, five individuals were found guilty for a 2023 plot to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
