An alarm has rung out near RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, with staff at their base and their families urged to stay indoors and way from windows, accorsing to local broadcasters Alpha Cyprus and ERT. The alert came after a suspicious object was detected in airspace near Lebanon, prompting fighter jets to scramble from a nearby base.
One of the largest newspapers in Cyprus, Phileleftheros said loud sirens are blared in the surrounding area of the bases. Officials said the message was sent to personnel as a precaution while authorities assessed the potential threat. On Wednesday morning, two fighter jets were launched from the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos to identify and assess a suspicious object. . Trusted sources also told Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that two F-16s took off from Paphos for the purposes of "identifying and dealing" with a suspicious object. After completing their mission, the aircraft returned safely to base
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On Wednesday morning, Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said a possible suspicious object had been spotted in airspace near Lebanon.
He added that, as a precaution, the relevant authorities had taken all necessary measures to investigate.
