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Belgian law enforcement have taken into custody three suspects suspected of conspiring to carry out an attack on the government's PM, Bart de Wever.

Prosecutors characterized the alleged scheme as a "jihadist-inspired terrorist attack" targeting the PM and fellow elected representatives.

During raids conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the prime minister's personal dwelling, officials uncovered a alleged homemade bomb and proof that the accused were intending to use a drone.

While the prospective targets of the attack were not disclosed by name by the prosecutor's office, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.

"Information of a intended strike targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the deputy prime minister declared in a post on X on the day of the arrests.

"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a serious terrorism risk and that we have to stay alert," he concluded.

The three people taken into custody on charges of plotting a terrorist killing and participation in the functions of a extremist organization all live in the Antwerp region, as stated by the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.

As of the evening of the arrests, one of the individuals was freed, while the remaining two were undergoing questioning and expected to be presented before a court on Friday.

Legal authorities stated that the individuals were arrested after a judge ordered searches of their homes in the location by police officers backed by bomb detection canines.

In the course of these searches that they found a object which appeared to be an IED, federal prosecutor Ann Fransen stated at a news conference on Thursday.

Searches also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a additive manufacturing device, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she continued.

The official stated that there had been eighty counter-terrorism cases opened in the country this year - surpassing the full amount of investigations in last year.

During the spring, five suspects were found guilty for a scheme last year to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.