Suspected Scheme to Attack Belgian Premier Thwarted

Belgium's authorities have arrested three suspects suspected of planning an attack on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.

Federal prosecutors characterized the reported scheme as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and additional government officials.

During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the prime minister's private residence, investigators discovered a alleged homemade bomb and proof that the individuals were planning to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.

While the prospective targets of the assault were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.

"Reports of a intended attack aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official declared in a post on online platforms on the investigation day.

"This underscores that we are dealing with a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.

The three suspects detained on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the operations of a terrorist group all are based in the Antwerp region, per the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.

On late Thursday, one of the individuals was freed, while two others were under interrogation and likely to face a judge on the following day.

The prosecution revealed that the individuals were arrested after a magistrate ordered raids of their homes in the city by officials supported by bomb detection canines.

Throughout these investigations that they found a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on that day.

Investigations also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she added.

The official disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in Belgium this year - more than the overall count of cases in 2024.

In April, five suspects were found guilty for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was acting as Antwerp's mayor.