UK’s Cooper confirms drone hit Akrotiri runway

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday confirmed that the drone which had hit the country’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus had struck the aerodrome’s runway.

“This is an unmanned drone strike, specifically on the airport runway, and we are not able to provide further information and detail at this point, but obviously, all of the precautionary measures are being taken around the base,” she told British television channel Sky News.

Asked whether the UK is now a “target”, she insisted that “we have got 300,000 British citizens in countries which are already being targeted”, and that prior to last night, the UK had already observed “strikes come extremely close to British personnel” elsewhere in the region.

Pressed on the matter, she said that “we do not know the details of this particular drone incident on Cyprus or the timings of it either, so I do not want to speculate on that one”.

She also stressed that “over the weekend, we have seen hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones fired from Iran” on countries in the region, “and that is why this is significant”.

Personnel on the British bases had been informed shortly after 1am that a “small drone” had “impacted the airfield” and that the bases’ authorities were responding.

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

The bases’ authorities also instructed personnel to “remain in place and await further instruction”, warning that “there may be additional impact”, with the explosion and siren sounds having been heard in nearby Limassol.

Later on Monday morning, President Nikos Christodoulides stressed that Cypriot forces are “not participating in any way” in military action in the widening conflict in the Middle East.

“I want to be clear: our homeland is not participating in any way, and do not intend to be part of any military operation. We remain committed to the humanitarian role we have served all this time, always acting as part of the solution, and not of the problem,” he said in a televised address.