Alleged Scheme to Target Belgian PM Thwarted

Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an assault on the nation's premier, Bart de Wever.

Legal authorities described the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and additional government officials.

During searches conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, in proximity to the PM's home, officials uncovered a potential IED and evidence that the individuals were preparing to deploy a drone.

While the intended targets of the assault were not publicly identified by the federal prosecutors, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was included in the targets.

"Reports of a planned attack aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot wrote in a post on online platforms on Thursday.

"It emphasizes that we are confronting a genuine terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he concluded.

The three suspects detained on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group all live in Antwerp, according to the legal authorities. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.

As of Thursday evening, one of the individuals was freed, while the remaining two were under interrogation and scheduled to be presented before a court on the following day.

The prosecution revealed that the accused were detained after a court official authorized raids of their dwellings in the city by officials backed by bomb detection canines.

In the course of these investigations that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on the day of the events.

Raids also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she added.

The official stated that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in the country so far this year - surpassing the full amount of investigations in the previous year.

In April, five suspects were convicted for a 2023 plot to target De Wever while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.