Reported Scheme to Strike Belgian Premier Foiled
Belgian law enforcement have arrested three suspects accused of plotting an attack on the country's premier, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors described the alleged plan as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the premier and fellow politicians.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the prime minister's private residence, officials uncovered a alleged improvised explosive device and evidence that the accused were planning to use a UAV.
While the planned victims of the attack were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot stated that de Wever was included in the targets.
"Reports of a intended assault targeting Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official stated in a message on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to keep watchful," he continued.
The three suspects taken into custody on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the functions of a extremist organization all live in Antwerp, as stated by the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
As of late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while two others were undergoing questioning and expected to be presented before a court on the following day.
The prosecution revealed that the accused were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their homes in the city by police officers assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they found a object which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on Thursday.
Searches also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
Fransen stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in the country this year - exceeding the full amount of instances in last year.
Earlier this year, five individuals were found guilty for a scheme last year to attack Belgium's leader while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
