🔗 Share this article Suspected Plot to Attack Belgian Prime Minister Foiled Belgium's authorities have taken into custody three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an attack on the nation's PM, Bart de Wever. Prosecutors described the reported plan as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the premier and additional government officials. During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's home, officials discovered a suspected improvised explosive device and proof that the individuals were planning to use a UAV. While the planned victims of the attack were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was among them. "The news of a intended assault directed toward Premier Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the deputy prime minister declared in a post on social media on the investigation day. "It highlights that we are confronting a serious terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he continued. The three individuals detained on charges of attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the activities of a jihadist network all live in Antwerp, per the legal authorities. They were with years of birth in 2001, 2002 and 2007. On Thursday evening, one suspect was freed, while two others were under interrogation and likely to face a judge on the next day. Legal authorities revealed that the accused were arrested after a judge directed inspections of their dwellings in the location by law enforcement backed by explosives-trained dogs. In the course of these raids that they found a item which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a media briefing on Thursday. Raids also revealed a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued. Fransen said that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in the nation this year - surpassing the total number of investigations in last year. In April, five people were convicted for a scheme last year to target De Wever while he was serving as the city's chief executive.