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| Belgium to launch air strikes against Isis as it joins Syria coalition | Belgium to launch air strikes against Isis as it joins Syria coalition |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Belgium will rejoin the international coalition against Isis and begin launching air strikes in Syria for the first time, its government has announced. | |
| A spokesperson for the prime minister, Charles Michel, confirmed Belgian media reports suggesting six of the country's F-16 fighter jets would be rejoining the US-led military effort. | |
| Belgium joined in coalition air strikes against Isis in Iraq in the summer of 2014, but suspended its involvement in July 2015 citing the unsustainable financial costs involved. | |
| It has not previously been involved in fighting Isis in Syria, but there were reports in early March that the government had been formally requested to help by the US. | |
| In the wake of the Brussels terror attacks on 22 March, Isis said Belgium was targeted as "a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State" - despite the fact it had not dropped a bomb there in at least nine months. | |
| More follows | More follows |