Suspected Plot to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled
Belgium's police have arrested three people suspected of planning an attack on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.
Legal authorities described the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and other government officials.
During raids conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, near the prime minister's private residence, authorities found a potential homemade bomb and evidence that the individuals were preparing to use a drone.
While the prospective targets of the attack were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.
"Information of a premeditated strike directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the deputy prime minister wrote in a update on online platforms on Thursday.
"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he concluded.
The three suspects taken into custody on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group all live in Antwerp, according to the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
As of late Thursday, one person was freed, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and likely to be presented before a court on the next day.
Legal authorities said that the accused were arrested after a judge authorized inspections of their dwellings in the location by officials supported by bomb detection canines.
It was during these searches that they located a item which "bore strong resemblances to an improvised explosive device", federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on that day.
Searches also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.
Fransen said that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the country so far this year - surpassing the total number of instances in last year.
Earlier this year, five individuals were found guilty for a previous year's plan to target De Wever while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
