British air base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, targeted by Shahed drone, say officials.
Sources say this drone indicates it has been fired by Hezbollah.
Cyprus stresses that it has no involvement in regional military operations.
Local residents opt to flee the location overnight.
A drone attack struck a British air base located in Akrotiri in Cyprus on Monday, 2 March ’26, causing limited damage and no casualties. Officials from both Cyprus and Britain shared this information on Monday. The assault marked an escalation of the regional conflict surrounding Iran, which entangled an EU member.
The drone had hit the runway at the British Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri just after midnight. The explosion shook the eastern Mediterranean island, a holiday hotspot and home to thousands of foreign companies. Residents scrambled to more secure locations for shelter.
Senior Cypriot officials believed that the single ad hoc attack was executed by an Iranian Shahed drone. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant outfit from Lebanon, most likely fired it. Officials have further stressed that the target was more likely to be the air case rather than Cyprus.
They added that this drone had been undetected due to sustaining a very low altitude.
Iran and its allies have retaliated against the U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran by targeting military bases and other places of significant economic interest in the Middle Eastern region.
A Cypriot spokesperson said that during the day, on the same Monday, 2 more drones were detected heading in the direction of Akrotiri. These 2 drones had triggered sirens and a scramble of aircraft, which were successful in intercepting those drones mid-air.
In a speech, President Nikos Christodoulides declared that all the republic’s competent services were on alert and in full operational readiness.
Britain had relocated additional air assets to Akrotiri. This was in anticipation of U.S. action against Iran.
