Suspected Scheme to Target Belgian Premier Thwarted
Belgium's authorities have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in plotting an attack on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the suspected plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and additional politicians.
During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, in proximity to the prime minister's private residence, investigators discovered a potential improvised explosive device and proof that the accused were preparing to deploy a drone.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was among them.
"Information of a premeditated assault directed toward Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot wrote in a post on social media on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.
The three people taken into custody on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the activities of a extremist organization all live in the city of Antwerp, per the federal prosecutors. They were with years of birth in three different years between 2001 and 2007.
As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was freed, while the remaining two were under interrogation and likely to be presented before a court on the next day.
Federal prosecutors stated that the accused were detained after a judge directed inspections of their residences in the urban area by law enforcement assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.
It was during these investigations that they located a item which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on Thursday.
Investigations also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a three-dimensional printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.
Fransen said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the country so far this year - exceeding the total number of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five individuals were found guilty for a scheme last year to target the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
