Alleged Plan to Attack Belgian PM Foiled
Belgium's police have taken into custody three people allegedly involved in planning an assault on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors characterized the alleged plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and fellow politicians.
During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the PM's private residence, officials found a suspected IED and evidence that the individuals were preparing to use a unmanned aerial vehicle.
While the planned victims of the strike were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was one of them.
"Reports of a premeditated assault directed toward PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a update on social media on the investigation day.
"It highlights that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued.
The three people detained on suspicion of terrorism-related attempted murder and involvement in the functions of a jihadist network all live in the city of Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.
On late Thursday, one of the individuals was let go, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and expected to be presented before a court on the following day.
Federal prosecutors stated that the accused were detained after a court official ordered inspections of their homes in the urban area by police officers backed by explosives-trained dogs.
In the course of these searches that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a press conference on the day of the events.
Investigations also uncovered a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she added.
The official disclosed that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases initiated in the nation so far this year - exceeding the overall count of investigations in the previous year.
In April, five suspects were found guilty for a previous year's plan to target the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.
