An object which caused an overnight explosion in the Turkish-recognized Northern Cyprus could be a “Russian-made” air defense missile that missed its target during an Israeli raid on Syria, local authorities claimed.

Correction: A previous version of the article erroneously referred to Kudret Ozersay as a Turkish official. In fact, he is a foreign minister of the Northern Cyprus which remains internationally unrecognized, except by Turkey.

The projectile that landed in Northern Cyprus on Sunday night could be “a Russian-made S-200 air defense missile,” according to Kudret Ozersay’s posts on Facebook and Twitter. The official suggested that the missile had “completed its range” and crashed on the Mediterranean island after missing its target.

Markings on the retrieved debris were identical to that of an S-200 missile that was reportedly found in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep back in 2018, Ozersay added.

However, he said that the circumstances of the crash have not yet been fully established. “Although we are not certain, our first findings [indicate] that this was an S-200 missile,” his post read.

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The explosion in question occurred on Sunday night in the neighborhood of Tashkent (otherwise known as Vouno), some 20km northeast of Nicosia. The impact was heard for miles around and sparked huge fire at the site, but inflicted no casualties.

It also happened shortly after Syrian air defenses were scrambled to repel two consecutive air raids that Damascus blamed on Israel. State media said the strike left at least three soldiers killed and seven others wounded in the Damascus and eastern Quneitra areas.

The explosion in question occurred on Sunday night in the neighborhood of Tashkent (otherwise known as Vouno), some 20km northeast of Nicosia. The impact was heard for miles around and sparked a huge fire at the site, though it caused no casualties.

It also happened shortly after Syrian air defenses were scrambled to repel two consecutive air raids, which Damascus blamed on Israel. State media said the strike left at least three soldiers dead and seven others wounded in the Damascus and eastern Quneitra areas.

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