Russia summons Belgian envoy over Syria air strikes

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Belgian ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen to complain about Belgium's "stubborn denial" of allegations that Belgian military jets had killed civilians in an air strike near Aleppo in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry and the Russian Foreign Ministry say two Belgian F-16 jets bombed a settlement in Aleppo province on Oct. 18 and killed six civilians, a charge Belgium says is false.

Belgian Defence Minister Steven Vandeput said in a statement on Thursday that Russia had fabricated the evidence against his country to falsely accuse the Belgian air force, Reuters reports.

He demanded Moscow issue a formal retraction of what he said was "a groundless and unsubstantiated allegation."