Alleged Plot to Attack Belgian Premier Thwarted

Belgium's police have detained three people allegedly involved in plotting an attack on the government's prime minister, Bart de Wever.

Federal prosecutors described the suspected plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and fellow government officials.

During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the premier's home, officials discovered a potential homemade bomb and indications that the suspects were intending to use a UAV.

While the planned victims of the assault were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was one of them.

"Reports of a intended strike targeting Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot wrote in a message on X on the investigation day.

"It emphasizes that we are confronting a serious extremist danger and that we have to keep watchful," he concluded.

The three individuals detained on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and engagement in the operations of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.

As of the evening of the arrests, one suspect was let go, while the other suspects were still being questioned and scheduled to face a judge on the following day.

Legal authorities revealed that the suspects were detained after a judge ordered raids of their dwellings in the urban area by officials assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.

It was during these searches that they discovered a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on the day of the events.

Searches also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.

The official stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in the country so far this year - more than the full amount of cases in last year.

In April, five individuals were found guilty for a 2023 plot to target De Wever while he was acting as the mayor of Antwerp.