Reported Scheme to Strike Belgian Premier Prevented
Belgian law enforcement have taken into custody three people accused of conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the suspected scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the prime minister and other government officials.
During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the PM's personal dwelling, authorities found a alleged homemade bomb and evidence that the accused were intending to use a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the strike were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that de Wever was included in the targets.
"Reports of a intended attack directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot stated in a post on online platforms on the day of the arrests.
"This underscores that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three suspects arrested on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and engagement in the activities of a terrorist group all live in Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
As of late Thursday, one person was released, while two others were still being questioned and likely to be presented before a court on the following day.
The prosecution said that the suspects were taken into custody after a magistrate ordered raids of their homes in the city by police officers backed by bomb detection canines.
It was during these searches that they located a object which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on the day of the events.
Raids also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she added.
The prosecutor stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the nation in the current year - surpassing the overall count of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five people were convicted for a scheme last year to attack the prime minister while he was serving as the mayor of Antwerp.
