UK sends defence equipment to help Belgium deal with disruptive drones

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is sending experts and equipment to Belgium to help it combat disruptive drone sightings, which have temporarily closed airports, the head of the British military said on Sunday.

Drones have been spotted over airports and military bases in Belgium in the last week, having caused major disruption across Europe in recent months.

Richard Knighton, head of Britain's armed forces, told the BBC that his Belgian counterpart had asked for assistance and that equipment and personnel were on the way.

"The defence secretary and I agreed at the end of last week that we would deploy our people and our equipment to Belgium to help them," he said, without giving details of what sort of equipment would be sent or how many personnel.

Knighton said it was not known yet who was behind the drone sightings, but noted Russia has been involved in a pattern of "hybrid warfare" in recent years.

Russia has denied any connection with the incidents.

Drones spotted flying over airports serving the capital, Brussels, and Liege, in the country's east, forced the diversion of many incoming planes and the grounding of some due to depart on Tuesday.

Drone sightings also forced the temporary closures of airports in several countries including Sweden on Thursday.

The German defence minister suggested a link on Friday between recent drone incidents in Belgium and discussions over the use of frozen Russian assets, held by Belgian financial institution Euroclear, to fund a large loan to Ukraine.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by David Holmes)