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Conflict in Syria

Belgium summons Russian ambassador over statement on Syria airstrikes

On October 18, Russia’s Reconciliation Center in Syria reported a village near Aleppo had been battered by an airstrike, Belgian F-16 fighter jets were detected there at that time

Belgian F-16 fighter jet AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

Belgian F-16 fighter jet

© AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

BRUSSELS, October 19. /TASS/. Belgium’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it has summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Tokovinin over Moscow’s statement that the Belgian Air Force bombed civilian facilities near Aleppo.

Read also

Russia to regard Belgian strikes in Aleppo as support for Nusra if no criticism follows

Russia’s Embassy has not yet commented on the report.

Belgium’s Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said earlier in the day that the country’s Air Force had not delivered airstrikes on civil infrastructure near Aleppo on October 18 in which six people were killed.

"We usually do not report where we act, but those days our aircraft did not perform flights over the mentioned area," the minister told the Radio 1 station. Later he also wrote on Twitter: "Belgium is not involved in Aleppo strike."

On October 18, Russia’s Reconciliation Center in Syria reported the Hassadjek village near Aleppo had been battered by an airstrike which left six people dead and four injured. At that time, there were no Russian Aerospace Forces or Syrian Air Force aircraft in the area in question while Belgian F-16 fighter jets were detected.

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Syrian conflict

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