It came hours after an Iranian Shahed drone crashed into the Akrotiri base, causing minor damage, according to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

An AFP correspondent heard sirens sounding at the Akrotiri air base and saw about 70 vehicles, mostly with civilian number plates, leaving the area on the southern tip of the island around noon local time (1000 GMT).

State broadcaster CyBC later reported the evacuation, saying that three fighter jets took off from the base at the same time.

Shortly after, Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that "Two unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) heading toward the British Bases in Akrotiri were dealt with in a timely manner".

The interior ministry then announced the evacuation of the area around Akrotiri as well as Paphos airport, one of two international airports in government-controlled Cyprus, which is around 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Akrotiri and hosts a military base used by the United States.

The attacks on the British base came after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Sunday that the United Kingdom would allow its facilities to be used by the United States for "specific and limited defensive purposes" in its war with Iran.

Britain retained two sovereign bases on the Mediterranean island after it became independent in 1960, which have been used in campaigns including the fight against the Islamic State group and the 2011 intervention in Libya.

On Sunday afternoon, Greece said it was sending two frigates and two F-16 fighter jets to the island, whose majority population is Greek-speaking.

The Greek defence ministry said the ships and jets would assist Cyprus in "countering threats and illegal actions on its territory".

Letymbiotis later said that the Cypriot government was seeking "explicit guarantees" from Britain that the bases would only be used for humanitarian purposes.

Nicosia does not have any official say in the use of the bases, which remain British sovereign territory.

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