Two drones fired in direction of Akrotiri ‘dealt with’, Letymbiotis says

Two unmanned drones which had been fired in the direction of the United Kingdom’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus were “dealt with in a timely manner”, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Monday afternoon, hours after the base had been hit.

Earlier, a second “security threat” was declared at the United Kingdom’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus shortly after midday on Monday, while the village of Akrotiri was also evacuated.

A source from the interior ministry said that in light of the fact that the British bases’ authorities had elected to evacuate the air force base, the Cypriot government decided to give instructions for the village of Akrotiri to also be evacuated.

Other villages within the Akrotiri base area were not evacuated.

Unconfirmed reports also suggested that the Dhekelia base, located in the east of the island, was also evacuated, while alarms were heard at the United States’ embassy in Nicosia, with it believed that the sounding of those alarms may have been related to the firing of the drones.

Meanwhile, sources informed the Cyprus Mail that personnel at the base were told of the threat, and instructed to “return to your homes and stay inside until further notice”.

They were also told to “move away from windows and take cover behind or beneath substantial, solid furniture”, and to await further instruction.

The second threat came after the runway at Akrotiri was hit by a drone shortly after midnight, with personnel on the bases being informed at 1.18am that a “small drone” had “impacted the airfield”.

It was also confirmed that there were no casualties as a result of the overnight strike, but that “minor damage” had been caused.