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Belgian police have taken into custody three individuals accused of conspiring to carry out an attack on the country's PM, Bart de Wever.

Federal prosecutors labeled the alleged plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the prime minister and other politicians.

During searches conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the PM's personal dwelling, investigators uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and indications that the individuals were intending to deploy a unmanned aerial vehicle.

While the prospective targets of the assault were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the prime minister was among them.

"The news of a planned strike targeting PM Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official declared in a message on social media on the day of the arrests.

"It emphasizes that we are confronting a serious extremist danger and that we have to keep watchful," he concluded.

The three people taken into custody on allegations of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the functions of a terrorist group all live in Antwerp, according to the prosecutor's office. They were with years of birth in the early 2000s.

On Thursday evening, one person was released, while two others were undergoing questioning and likely to face a judge on the following day.

The prosecution said that the individuals were taken into custody after a court official ordered inspections of their dwellings in the location by police officers supported by explosives-trained dogs.

Throughout these investigations that they located a object which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on that day.

Searches also uncovered a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with evidence suggesting drone-based payload delivery, she noted.

Fransen said that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the country so far this year - surpassing the total number of cases in last year.

Earlier this year, five individuals were convicted for a 2023 plot to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of the mayor of Antwerp.