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Belgium's authorities have detained three suspects allegedly involved in planning an strike on the nation's premier, Bart de Wever.

Federal prosecutors described the reported plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the PM and fellow government officials.

During investigations conducted in the Deurne area of Antwerp, close to the premier's home, officials discovered a suspected homemade bomb and evidence that the accused were preparing to employ a unmanned aerial vehicle.

While the planned victims of the strike were not publicly identified by the prosecutor's office, Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot revealed that Belgium's leader was included in the targets.

"The news of a premeditated attack directed toward PM Bart de Wever is profoundly disturbing," the official wrote in a message on X on Thursday.

"This underscores that we are dealing with a genuine terrorism risk and that we have to keep watchful," he added.

The three suspects detained on allegations of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the operations of a extremist organization all live in Antwerp, according to the legal authorities. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.

On late Thursday, one of the individuals was released, while the other suspects were still being questioned and likely to appear in court on the next day.

The prosecution stated that the accused were taken into custody after a magistrate authorized searches of their dwellings in the urban area by officials backed by explosives-trained dogs.

In the course of these raids that they found a device which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on Thursday.

Searches also found a container of metal spheres and a additive manufacturing device, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.

The prosecutor stated that there had been 80 terrorism investigations initiated in the country in the current year - more than the total number of investigations in 2024.

Earlier this year, five people were convicted for a scheme last year to attack Belgium's leader while he was serving as Antwerp's mayor.