BRUSSELS 

The Syrian Mission to the EU in Brussels was targeted Wednesday evening by supporters of the YPG/SDF terrorist group, who attempted to replace the national flag with a flag linked to the group, the mission confirmed to Anadolu on Thursday.

According to the statement, a group of assailants climbed over the mission's wall at around 6 pm local time (1730GMT), accessed a first-floor balcony, removed the Syrian national flag, and replaced it with a banner bearing a slogan that "does not represent Syria, its people, or its honorable citizens."

Video footage circulating on social media appears to show a group of individuals climbing onto a building and replacing the Syrian national flag with a flag linked to a terrorist group.

The incident lasted less than half an hour, the mission said, adding that the Syrian ambassador and mission staff, accompanied by a group of Syrians residing in Brussels, arrived at the building and raised the national flag again.

Belgian police cooperated fully with the mission, which was able to identify the perpetrators through coordination with security forces and surveillance camera footage, the statement noted, adding that the identities of some suspects have already been established.

Following a formal complaint filed by the mission, Belgian security authorities have launched an investigation into what the statement described as a "serious matter" and an "explicit attack on the security and sanctity of diplomatic premises."

The mission building will be placed under 24-hour protection by Belgian security forces, it added.

The statement also expressed gratitude to Syrians who gathered at the mission that evening and to those who rushed to the building, thanking them for their efforts "to protect the honor and dignity" of Syria and its national flag."

The incident came as the Syrian Army carried out operations in northeastern Syria after the SDF failed to comply with provisions of a ceasefire agreement. Under the deal, the SDF was required to withdraw military formations east of the Euphrates River and hand over administrative and security control of the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces to the Syrian government.

The agreement also mandated that all border crossings and energy resources come under central government authority, with SDF personnel to be individually integrated into the Syrian Defense and Interior Ministries following security vetting.

Syria's Defense Ministry announced a four-day ceasefire with the SDF on Tuesday evening, "in line with the understandings announced by the Syrian state with the SDF" and "out of keenness to ensure the success of the national efforts being made."

The SDF is dominated by the YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist group PKK. The PKK is classified as an ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency Europol and has been banned in Germany since 1993.