Reported Plan to Strike Belgian PM Prevented
Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three individuals accused of conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's premier, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the suspected plot as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and fellow politicians.
During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the premier's personal dwelling, authorities found a alleged IED and indications that the suspects were intending to employ a drone.
While the planned victims of the attack were not disclosed by name by the legal authorities, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was one of them.
"The news of a premeditated assault aimed at PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a update on online platforms on the investigation day.
"It emphasizes that we are facing a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he continued.
The three individuals taken into custody on suspicion of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the operations of a jihadist network all are based in Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were had birth years in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
By late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while two others were undergoing questioning and scheduled to appear in court on the next day.
The prosecution revealed that the accused were taken into custody after a court official directed searches of their dwellings in the urban area by law enforcement assisted by bomb detection canines.
Throughout these investigations that they located a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on that day.
Raids also revealed a collection of ball bearings and a additive manufacturing device, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she added.
Fransen said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in Belgium this year - exceeding the total number of instances in last year.
During the spring, five suspects were convicted for a scheme last year to attack De Wever while he was acting as the mayor of Antwerp.
