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Belgian law enforcement have detained three individuals suspected of planning an assault on the nation's prime minister, Bart de Wever.

Legal authorities described the reported plan as a terrorist act motivated by jihadist ideology targeting the premier and fellow government officials.

During investigations conducted in Antwerp's Deurne district, near the PM's home, authorities uncovered a suspected homemade bomb and evidence that the suspects were preparing to employ a drone.

While the intended targets of the strike were not officially named by the prosecutor's office, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot confirmed that the prime minister was among them.

"The news of a planned attack targeting Prime Minister Bart de Wever is deeply alarming," the official wrote in a update on social media on Thursday.

"This underscores that we are dealing with a very real extremist danger and that we have to stay alert," he added.

The three suspects detained on charges of attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the activities of a jihadist network all reside in the city of Antwerp, as stated by the federal prosecutors. They were born in 2001, 2002 and 2007.

By late Thursday, one of the individuals was let go, while the other suspects were undergoing questioning and likely to appear in court on Friday.

Federal prosecutors stated that the accused were detained after a court official directed searches of their residences in the urban area by officials supported by bomb detection canines.

Throughout these investigations that they found a item which appeared to be an IED, legal representative Ann Fransen stated at a media briefing on that day.

Searches also found a collection of ball bearings and a 3D printer, with signs of drone weaponization plans, she noted.

The official stated that there had been 80 extremist probes launched in the nation this year - more than the full amount of cases in last year.

During the spring, five individuals were convicted for a scheme last year to strike Belgium's leader while he was acting as the city's chief executive.