Reported Scheme to Attack Belgian Prime Minister Foiled

Belgian law enforcement have taken into custody three individuals allegedly involved in plotting an strike on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.

Federal prosecutors characterized the suspected plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and fellow elected representatives.

During searches conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, near the PM's personal dwelling, officials found a suspected improvised explosive device and indications that the accused were planning to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.

While the prospective targets of the attack were not officially named by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.

"Reports of a planned attack aimed at Premier Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," Prevot wrote in a message on online platforms on the investigation day.

"This underscores that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.

The three people detained on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the functions of a jihadist network all live in the Antwerp region, per the prosecutor's office. They were had birth years in three different years between 2001 and 2007.

By late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and scheduled to appear in court on the next day.

The prosecution stated that the accused were arrested after a judge directed inspections of their residences in the location by officials supported by explosive sniffer dogs.

Throughout these searches that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on the day of the events.

Searches also found a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.

The prosecutor said that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in the country in the current year - exceeding the overall count of cases in the previous year.

During the spring, five suspects were sentenced for a previous year's plan to strike De Wever while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.