CLOSE CALL
Out-of-control ‘Syrian missile’ EXPLODES in Cyprus nature park – sparking fears for Brit holidaymakers
A STRAY missile smashed into a park near Nicosia in Cyprus last night, exploding in an area popular with Brit holidaymakers.
The missile, believed to be a Syrian anti-aircraft weapon fired to fend off Israeli airstrikes, landed in Turkish occupied northern Cyprus, setting the mountainside ablaze.
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It landed in the region of Tashkent, also known as Vouno, and video shows the hillside on fire.
It is thought that the missile was fired by the Syrian defence forces in response to Israeli warplanes targeting military positions in Homs and Damascus last night.
War ravaged Homs is just 193 miles from Nicosia.
The incident is a terrifying new development for the million-plus Brits who travel to Cyprus every year.
Many of them will visit nature resorts in the northern part of the island, close to where the missile landed.
Russia is the Syrian regime's main backer and arms supplier and its intervention is seen as critical in helping Bashar al-Assad turn the tide in the country's brutal civil war.
The missile that struck Cyprus would almost certainly have been supplied to the Syrian regime by Putin.
“The first assessment is that a Russian-made missile," Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay said in a post on Facebook.
Did you see or hear the missile? Please contact [email protected] +44 (0) 207 782 4522
He added it "was part of the air defence system that took place last night in the face of an air strike against Syria, completed its range and fell into our country after it missed".
A Greek Cypriot military analyst, Andreas Pentaras, said the debris suggested it was a Russian-made S-200 missile, which can have a range of up to 250 miles.
Cyprus – the holiday island popular with Brits
According to the Foreign Office around one million Brits visit Cyprus each year.
July is the most popular month with 176,880 arrivals from the UK, according to figures released by the island’s tourist authorities.
Most tourists travel to the Republic of Cyprus – which is a member of the EU – to visit resorts such as Agia Napa.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not recognised by the UK government and is visited by fewer tourists from the UK.
The Foreign Office's travel advice for Cyprus says that "most visits are trouble free" though it says terrorism attacks "can't be ruled out".
It doesn't, however, mention any danger stemming from the war in Syria.
Last year a missile alert warning was issued to pilots flying into and out of Cyprus and other countries near Syria.
Cyprus is considered the 36th safest country in the world according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) - who publish an annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report.
“An assessment from the pictures made public shows the base of its wings," Pentaras, a retired army general, told Sigma TV in Cyprus.
"It has Russian writing on it, so it suggests it is Russian made. Syria uses Russian-made missiles, so a not-so-safe assessment would be it was .. an S-200 (missile)"
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Israeli jamming technology could have diverted the missile, he said.
Zenonas Tziarras of the Geopolitical Cyprus think-tank told Reuters the missile could have been faulty.
The freak incident would be the first time that Cyprus has been caught in the crosshairs of military operations in the Middle East despite its proximity to the region.
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