Reported Scheme to Attack Belgian PM Prevented
Belgian authorities have taken into custody three people allegedly involved in planning an strike on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities characterized the alleged plot as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and other elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the premier's personal dwelling, authorities found a potential IED and indications that the suspects were planning to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the attack were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was among them.
"Information of a planned attack directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot declared in a message on social media on Thursday.
"It highlights that we are confronting a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he concluded.
The three individuals taken into custody on allegations of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the functions of a jihadist network all are based in Antwerp, according to the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was freed, while two others were under interrogation and likely to appear in court on Friday.
Federal prosecutors revealed that the suspects were arrested after a court official authorized raids of their dwellings in the city by law enforcement supported by bomb detection canines.
It was during these searches that they found a device which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on that day.
Investigations also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.
The prosecutor disclosed that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in Belgium so far this year - surpassing the full amount of cases in last year.
Earlier this year, five suspects were convicted for a scheme last year to attack Belgium's leader while he was serving as the city's chief executive.
