Belgium's police have arrested three individuals suspected of planning an strike on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever.
Federal prosecutors labeled the alleged plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and additional elected representatives.
During investigations conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the premier's home, investigators uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the accused were preparing to employ a UAV.
While the intended targets of the assault were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot confirmed that de Wever was one of them.
"Reports of a intended strike aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," Prevot declared in a post on social media on the day of the arrests.
"It emphasizes that we are confronting a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he added.
The three people detained on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the operations of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, according to the legal authorities. They were born in the early 2000s.
As of the evening of the arrests, one suspect was freed, while the other suspects were under interrogation and likely to be presented before a court on the following day.
Legal authorities stated that the suspects were detained after a magistrate authorized inspections of their homes in the city by officials assisted by explosives-trained dogs.
It was during these investigations that they discovered a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on Thursday.
Searches also found a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she added.
The official disclosed that there had been 80 terrorism investigations launched in the nation this year - more than the overall count of cases in 2024.
In April, five suspects were sentenced for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.
