❓WHAT HAPPENED: Authorities in Belgium arrested three people plotting a jihadist-inspired attack using drone-mounted explosives.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Three young adults were arrested, with Prime Minister Bart De Wever among the potential targets.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Arrests occurred in Antwerp, Belgium, and were announced on Thursday, October 9, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Drones are a big problem. Islamism is too, but we’ve known that for a while.” – Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken
🎯IMPACT: The plot highlights the ongoing threat of Islamic terrorism and the potential misuse of drones in major Western cities.
Belgian authorities have arrested three suspects in Antwerp suspected of planning a jihadist-inspired attack involving drone-mounted explosives. The suspects were detained as part of an investigation into what federal prosecutors described as “attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.”
Federal prosecutor Ann Fransen confirmed the arrests but did not provide details on the intended targets. However, Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad reported that Prime Minister Bart De Wever was among those intended to be targeted in the attack.
During a search of one suspect’s residence, investigators discovered an improvised explosive device. At another location, a 3D printer was found, which is believed to have been used to produce parts for the planned attack.
Two suspects are currently being held for questioning by federal police and are expected to appear before an investigating judge. The third has been released. The alleged plan involved using drones to carry out attacks, raising alarms about the growing use of drones in terrorism.
Belgium’s defence minister, Theo Francken, responded to the news by posting on X, “Drones are a big problem. Islamism is too, but we’ve known that for a while.” His comments reflect broader concerns in Belgium, which has faced a series of high-profile terrorism cases in recent years. In 2023, for instance, a radicalized gunman killed two Swedish soccer fans in Brussels before being shot dead by police. The country has also seen instances of extremist rhetoric in public, including a rally in which an Islamist preacher shouted, “Allah, burn the Jews.”
The use of drones in terror plots is part of a growing trend worldwide. In the Sahel region of Africa, al-Qaeda-linked militants have carried out dozens of attacks using commercially available drones modified to carry explosives. Similarly, in Mexico, drug cartels have increasingly adopted drones as tools for both surveillance and combat, with hundreds of bomb-dropping drone attacks recorded over the past year. Cartels have even developed specialized drone units and first-person view (FPV) drone systems capable of precision strikes.
Image by Matt Christenson/BLM/2017.
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