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Belgian police have arrested three suspects allegedly involved in planning an strike on the country's prime minister, Bart de Wever.

Legal authorities labeled the reported plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and other elected representatives.

During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, close to the prime minister's personal dwelling, authorities found a suspected improvised explosive device and indications that the suspects were intending to employ a UAV.

While the planned victims of the assault were not disclosed by name by the federal prosecutors, Second-in-command Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.

"Reports of a planned assault directed toward PM Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official declared in a update on online platforms on Thursday.

"It highlights that we are confronting a very real terrorist threat and that we have to remain vigilant," he concluded.

The three suspects detained on suspicion of terrorism-related attempted murder and participation in the functions of a terrorist group all are based in the city of Antwerp, per the prosecutor's office. They were born in the early 2000s.

By Thursday evening, one person was released, while the remaining two were under interrogation and expected to appear in court on Friday.

Legal authorities said that the individuals were detained after a court official directed inspections of their dwellings in the urban area by officials supported by bomb detection canines.

It was during these investigations that they found a object which closely resembled a homemade bomb, legal representative Ann Fransen announced at a news conference on the day of the events.

Investigations also revealed a "bag of steel balls" and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she added.

Fransen stated that there had been 80 extremist probes initiated in Belgium this year - surpassing the overall count of cases in the previous year.

Earlier this year, five suspects were convicted for a 2023 plot to attack the prime minister while he was acting as the city's chief executive.