British base in Cyprus hit by drone strike

A drone strike hit Britain’s Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri in Cyprus overnight, the Cypriot and U.K. governments said on Monday, as the Iran conflict continued to escalate.

The strike, which caused limited damage and no casualties, came shortly after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he would allow the United States to use U.K. military bases to “destroy [Iranian] missiles at source.”

It’s the first time one of the U.K. bases on Cyprus have been hit since a rocket attack by Libyan ⁠militants in 1986. While the bases are regarded as British sovereign territory, Cyprus is an EU member, now holding the bloc’s rotating presidency.

“All the competent services of the republic are on alert and in full operational readiness,” ​Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said in a statement Monday morning.

He confirmed that a ⁠Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle caused minor damage when it crashed into the military facilities at 12:03 a.m. local time.

“I want ⁠to be clear: Our country ‌does not ⁠participate in any way and does not intend to be part of any military operation,” Christodoulides said.

The Cypriot president briefed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the incident. “While the Republic of Cyprus was not the target, let me be clear: we stand collectively, firmly and unequivocally with our Member States in the face of any threat,” von der Leyen said in a post on X.

Akrotiri, located on a peninsula on the southern tip of Cyprus, southwest of the coastal city of Limassol, is one the two bases Britain has maintained in its former colony since independence in 1960. It has been used in ​the past for military operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.