🔗 Share this article Reported Scheme to Attack Belgian PM Foiled Belgian authorities have detained three people accused of planning an strike on the country's premier, Bart de Wever. Prosecutors labeled the suspected plot as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the prime minister and other elected representatives. During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's private residence, officials uncovered a alleged improvised explosive device and evidence that the suspects were intending to use a UAV. While the intended targets of the attack were not officially named by the legal authorities, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that Belgium's leader was one of them. "The news of a planned strike aimed at PM Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," Prevot declared in a post on X on Thursday. "This underscores that we are dealing with a serious terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he added. The three suspects detained on charges of terrorism-related attempted murder and engagement in the activities of a jihadist network all are based in the Antwerp region, as stated by the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007. As of late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while the remaining two were still being questioned and likely to be presented before a court on Friday. Legal authorities said that the suspects were detained after a magistrate ordered inspections of their residences in the city by officials supported by bomb detection canines. In the course of these raids that they discovered a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen said at a press conference on Thursday. Investigations also uncovered a "bag of steel balls" and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted. The official said that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases launched in Belgium in the current year - exceeding the full amount of cases in the previous year. During the spring, five individuals were sentenced for a previous year's plan to target the prime minister while he was serving as the city's chief executive.