Alleged Plot to Attack Belgian PM Thwarted
Belgium's authorities have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in planning an assault on the nation's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities labeled the reported plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and additional elected representatives.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the premier's home, authorities found a alleged improvised explosive device and indications that the accused were planning to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the intended targets of the attack were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was included in the targets.
"Reports of a planned attack directed toward PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot stated in a message on social media on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are confronting a genuine extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three people taken into custody on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a jihadist network all reside in the Antwerp region, as stated by the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was freed, while two others were undergoing questioning and expected to appear in court on the following day.
Federal prosecutors stated that the accused were arrested after a magistrate ordered searches of their dwellings in the location by police officers assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
In the course of these searches that they found a object which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Searches also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a 3D printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she added.
The official stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the country in the current year - exceeding the full amount of instances in last year.
In April, five suspects were sentenced for a scheme last year to attack the prime minister while he was serving as the city's chief executive.