LONDON

The UK has agreed to provide military support to Belgium after drone incursions on its airspace, Britain's chief of defense staff said Sunday.

Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton said his counterpart in Belgium asked this week if the UK would be prepared to provide support amid drone incursions in several European countries, including Belgium.

"The Defence Secretary (John Healey) and I agreed at the end of last week that we would deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them," he told the BBC.

Brussels Airport closed temporarily on Thursday night after drones were spotted nearby. The latest incident follows drone incursions on Tuesday and Thursday near the airport in the city of Liege, plus drones spotted near a Belgian military base.

"It is important to be clear, though, that we don’t know – and the Belgians don’t yet know – the source of those drones, but we will help them by providing our kit and capability, which has already started to deploy to help Belgium," said Knighton.

Stressing that NATO allies will work to support each other, he said that that’s why they are "very happy to see UK military personnel deployed to support Belgium."

Recent months have seen a series of drone incursions in several European countries, sometimes near airports or military facilities, including over a Belgian military base this week.

Some European officials have blamed the incidents on Russia, linking them to a hybrid war and the continuing Ukraine conflict. Moscow, however, has firmly denied any involvement.