A suspected Russian-made missile has landed in Northern Cyprus, exploding in the air near a village, according to officials.
Turkish Cypriot foreign minister Kudret Ozersay spoke after debris from the object came down on a mountainside north of the capital Nicosia overnight.
Mr Ozersay said in a Facebook post: “The first assessment is that a Russian-made missile, part of the air defence system, which was part of the air defence system that took place last night in the face of an airstrike against Syria, completed its range and fell into our country after it missed.
“The explosion is thought to be before the impact, because there were no holes in the ground. The pieces that fell to several different points prove that the missile exploded in the air before it crashed.”
It was reported that Israeli airstrikes were taking place against targets in Syria around 120 miles (200km) away at the time of the blast.
Reuters said Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts came under attack overnight, with at least four civilians said to have been killed and another 21 wounded.
Debris from the object landed near the village of Tashkent, about 7 miles (12km) northeast of Nicosia, but there were reports that other fragments had landed in Esentepe and Gornec, nearly 18 miles (30km) from Nicosia.
It resulted in a bang that could be heard for miles around and set the hillside on fire.
Images displayed on media websites showed several blazes over a wide area.
Earlier, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of the north of the divided island, said that no one was hurt in the pre-dawn explosion.
