Planes that took off from Jordanian air base were immediately identified as F-16 of Belgian Air Force - Russian Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry has provided information on the flight route and actions by the planes of the Belgian Air Force and U.S. Air Force in the Syrian air space on October 18, when an air strike on the Kurdish village of Hasajek occurred.
"The takeoff by two military planes of the international coalition from the Salti aerodrome in Jordan was registered by air control devices at 1:34 a.m. Moscow time on October 18," Russian Defense Ministry official Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Thursday.
"I want to explain at once that every aircraft has a number of unique indicators that allow for the identification of their type," he said.
The general said these planes "we immediately identified as F-16 of the Belgian Air Force," the general said.
"These planes repeatedly entered the Russian and Syrian radar detection area. At 1:55 a.m., both F-16 planes entered the Iraqi air space. At 2:37 a.m., the Belgian planes entered the Syrian air space some 115 km east of the populated area of Deir ez-Zor," Konashenkov said.
"When Belgian Defense Minister Steven Vandeput, as he said 'laying a hand on his heart,' denies the involvement of the Belgian places in the bombing of the Kurdish village, he deliberately misleads the Belgian and world public, or his subordinates and their American colleagues deceive the administration of the Kingdom of Belgium," Konashenkov said.
Bearing in mind the flat denial of the flights of the Belgian Air Force by a representative of the Central Command of the U.S. army, the general drew the attention of the journalists to the following circumstance: "Being in the Syrian air space, the Belgian planes re-fuelled in midair in the Deir ez-Zor area from a U.S. KC-135 refueler from 2:52 a.m. and then they continued their flight in the northwestern direction," Konashenkov said.
At 3:10 a.m., the F-16 planes flew 80 km northeast of the city of al-Raqqah and, flying over the Euphrates, followed course 2600 in the western direction along the Syrian-Turkish border, he said. The planes then made a left-hand turn south of the city of Azaz and continued their flight on course 900 in the eastern direction,
"At 03.35 a.m., the planes delivered an air strike on the Kurdish village of Hasajek in the province Aleppo, as a result of which six citizens were killed and four people were injured. From 4:19 a.m., both Belgian planes refueled again from a U.S. KC-135 refueler and stayed on air patrol in the area of the city of Azaz, north of Aleppo. After that, the planes headed southeast in the direction of Iraq. At 7:25 a.m., the Belgian F-16 planes left the Syrian air space.
"I am saying once again: these are facts based on data from objective control devices," Konashenkov said.