Russia demands explanation from U.S. for alleged Belgian strike on civilians in Syria

Russia demanded an explanation Wednesday from the U.S.-led counter-terror coalition for the latest airstrikes allegedly conducted by Belgium that killed six civilians in Syria.

The Russian military said Tuesday that two F-16 fighter jets of the Belgian Air Force were detected in an airstrike against the village of Hassajek near Aleppo, which left six Syrian civilians dead and at least four wounded. Russia said there were "no Russian and Syrian air force planes in this region."

"We are waiting for an adequate response from the coalition, of course from Belgium," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

She added that the failure to condemn the airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition will be regarded as "nothing less than an attempt to keep militants in Syria."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also said on Wednesday that the Kremlin was awaiting the reaction to the strike from Europe and the United States.

Moscow announced Tuesday that Russian and Syrian armed forces had stopped attacking the besieged city of Aleppo so as to pave the way for an eight-hour truce on Thursday.

Peskov said the strike pause is "a great chance" and "a manifestation of goodwill" Russia gave to the United States for its implementation of the Russian-U.S. deals reached before.

But the U.S. State Department said on Monday that the eight-hour pause in attacks by Russian and Syrian forces was "too little, too late." Endi