Alleged Scheme to Target Belgian Prime Minister Foiled

Belgian police have taken into custody three people suspected of conspiring to carry out an assault on the nation's prime minister, Bart de Wever.

Legal authorities described the suspected scheme as a extremist assault with jihadist roots targeting the PM and fellow politicians.

During raids conducted in Deurne, Antwerp, in proximity to the PM's private residence, authorities discovered a potential homemade bomb and proof that the individuals were planning to deploy a UAV.

While the intended targets of the strike were not publicly identified by the legal authorities, Vice Premier Maxime Prevot revealed that the prime minister was one of them.

"Reports of a planned attack aimed at Prime Minister Bart de Wever is extremely shocking," the official wrote in a update on social media on the investigation day.

"It emphasizes that we are dealing with a very real terrorism risk and that we have to remain vigilant," he added.

The three suspects taken into custody on suspicion of plotting a terrorist killing and involvement in the operations of a extremist organization all are based in the city of Antwerp, according to the federal prosecutors. They were had birth years in the early 2000s.

By the evening of the arrests, one person was released, while two others were under interrogation and likely to appear in court on the following day.

Federal prosecutors revealed that the accused were detained after a magistrate authorized searches of their residences in the location by police officers assisted by explosive sniffer dogs.

Throughout these searches that they discovered a device which appeared to be an IED, lead prosecutor Ann Fransen announced at a press conference on the day of the events.

Raids also found a container of metal spheres and a three-dimensional printer, with "indications that they intended to use a drone to attach a payload", she continued.

The official said that there had been 80 extremist probes opened in Belgium this year - exceeding the full amount of cases in last year.

During the spring, five individuals were convicted for a previous year's plan to target the prime minister while he was holding the position of the city's chief executive.