After "alarming footage" appeared on social media showing an ex-soldier threatening to kill Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, a number of streets in the Limburg municipality of Leopoldsburg have been closed off.
"Alarming footage" posted to social media shows a former soldier attaching a picture of Prime Minister De Croo to a tree and shooting at it several times. In another one of his videos, the soldier says he is currently in Norway, De Morgen reports.
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed that a security zone is currently in place around the man's home, in Roy de Blicquylaan in Leopoldsburg, because it is unclear if he is dangerous.
The investigation, which was first in the hands of the Limburg Public Prosecutor, has now been taken over by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, meaning that it is being treated as a terror case, De Standaard reports.
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"I have no idea what is going on here," a local resident told Het Laatste Nieuws. "Around 11:00, suddenly the whole block was cordoned off and they arrived here with combis. Police forces kept arriving here. I do not know who they are looking for, but I am extremely shocked. Apparently, a man posted video footage on Facebook."
In the interest of the investigation, both Leopoldsburg Mayor Wouter Beke and the Public Prosecutor's Office do not want to comment on the case.
On the man's Facebook profile, a post of a verdict reportedly states that his security clearance was revoked after his dismissal from the army. The same verdict states that the man was a member of a motorbike gang caught with loaded weapons, ammunition, knives, gloves and balaclavas. He was also allegedly involved in plotting an attack against an Antwerp politician, but it was never carried out.
