NICOSIA – Seven Iraqis were injured in an explosion, possibly of a landmine, in Cyprus yesterday while trying to cross into EU territory through a ceasefire line dividing the island, police said.
The group, including three minors, were taken to hospital in the south of the island, where they underwent treatment.
One man suffered serious injuries and a four-year-old child was hit by fragments from the blast, police said.
The group was abandoned at a hospital by suspected people traffickers, and police could not specify where the blast occurred, she said.
Authorities said the group had told police they arrived in northern Cyprus on December 4th and were led to the line by people who told them they would be received on the other side.
“They had attempted to cross the line and while walking there was an explosion, possibly from a landmine,” a police spokeswoman said.
The 180km (116 mile) ceasefire line has split Greek and Turkish Cypriots since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island’s north in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup.
Landmines remain in several areas along the line, although the UN has undertaken extensive clearing work in recent years with funding from the EU.
Cyprus, on the edge of the volatile Middle East, has thousands of illegal migrants passing through each year. Its southern side is effectively in the EU – a potential springboard for illegal migrants to the rest of the bloc – while the north is a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state.
Cyprus’s political division makes supervision of its ceasefire line difficult, since the internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government does not recognise internal borders. – (Reuters)