The Ministry of Interior has ordered the mandatory evacuation of the Akrotiri area on Monday afternoon after a security crisis at the neighbouring British Sovereign Base Area (SBA).
Following a direct instruction from the Interior Minister to the Mayor of Kouris at 12.33 pm, residents were told to abandon their homes immediately, with many having already fled the vicinity as sirens sounded across the district.
The evacuation order followed reports from 12.11 pm of British fighter jets scrambling from the RAF Akrotiri runway, while the base itself was placed under lockdown.
By 12.15 pm, the SBA Administration began a total evacuation of its civilian workforce and shuttered the main gates.
The rapid escalation comes as the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed it is moving military families to alternative accommodation within the Republic following the midnight drone strikes that targeted the base’s infrastructure.
