Belgium Dismisses Claims of Air Force Responsibility for Striking Syrian Village

The Belgian defense minister dismissed Moscow's claims of the coalition country's deadly airstrike on a Syrian village.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Belgian Defense Minister Steven Vandeput on Wednesday dismissed claims regarding the country's Air Force responsibility for the airstrike on a Syrian village of Hassajek near Aleppo.

"Belgium is not involved in Aleppo strike. Russian disinformation," Vandeput posted on Twitter.

België niet betrokken bij burgerdoden Aleppo. Russische desinformatie.

— Steven Vandeput (@svandeput) 19 октября 2016 г.

The Russian center for Syrian reconciliation said Tuesday it had received local reports of an airstrike on Hassajek that killed six people and wounded at least four. According to its bulletin, Russian or Syrian aircraft did not operate in the area at the time of the strike while air traffic control systems detected two F-16 fighter jets of the Air Force of the Kingdom of Belgium at the time of the strike.

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on the US-led counterterrorist coalition to condemn the deadly airstrike in Syria by one of its allies.