Unidentified object believed to be a missile crashes midnight in North Cyprus (photos)

An unidentified object believed to be a missile or UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) crashed near the village of Taşkent, at around 1:00 am on Monday.

The explosion, some 12 km northeast of Lefkosa, led to a fire which was contained at around 3.40 am. Some homes were evacuated, Reuters reported adding that officials were studying debris at the crash site.

No injuries was recorded in the incident.

Residents said they saw a light in the sky then three loud explosions were heard for miles around.  

Taşkent is a small village in the Beşparmak mountain range.

The  TRNC foreign minister Kudret Ozersay in a Twitter post said that “the cause of the accident that occurred tonight was not … a helicopter or one of our similar vehicles”.

Our soldiers, police and firefighters are carrying out inspections and responding at the site.

He said it was not immediately clear what caused the crash.

Initial findings indicate the object that caused the explosion was either an aircraft carrying explosives or a direct explosive (missile). The writings and signs on the debris will allow us to understand exactly what happened soon, he added.

TRNC President, Mustafa Akinci who visited the area linked the explosion to military operations in the Middle East.

It is evident it is not something stemming from our soil … It is one of the bad sides of the war in the region falling into our country, he said.

Akinci was quoted by Turkish media, Hurriyet newspaper as saying that the object was an UAV and not a missile.

Taşkent'te füze paniği https://t.co/JX1MMNzxsN pic.twitter.com/xw97s9ZZmV

— Kıbrıs Genç Tv (@Kibris_Genc_TV) July 1, 2019

Cyprus is close to Syria. Israeli warplanes fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts overnight in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21.

If verified, it would be the first time that Cyprus has been caught up in military operations in the Middle East despite its proximity to the region, Reuters reported.

A Greek Cypriot military analyst, Andreas Pentaras, said the debris suggested it was a Russian-made S-200 missile.

An assessment from the pictures made public shows the base of its wings. 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), Pentaras, a retired army general, told Sigma TV in Cyprus.

Jamming technology could have diverted the missile, he said.