Nicosia: The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has increased monitoring in the area where a rock-throwing incident took place on Wednesday, at the civil-use area of the UN buffer zone on Markou Drakou street in Nicosia, its Spokesperson, Aleem Siddique, has told CNA.
According to Cyprus News Agency, during the incident, a group of individuals purportedly threw rocks and fireworks towards the northern area allegedly at civilians present in a park and nearby cafes. UNFICYP condemned the incident on Thursday, noting that "acts of violence of this nature are unacceptable and risk undermining public safety and stability."
Asked by the Cyprus News Agency, Siddique said that "we have increased monitoring in the area. On the day the incident happened, we sent patrols to the area immediately to investigate and notified the police requesting they take action. We have offered our assistance with their investigation."
A press release issued by UNFICYP on Thursday stated that the Force reached out "to the relevant authorities on both sides immediately after the incident occurred to support efforts to establish the facts through an appropriate and thorough investigation." UNFICYP also called for restraint and respect for the rule of law and urged all parties and individuals to refrain from any action that could undermine peace and security on the island.
UNFICYP, comprising over 800 military personnel from about seven troop-contributing countries, arrived in Cyprus in March 1964 after inter-communal fighting broke out. The mandate of the force is renewed every year by the Security Council. UNFICYP's mandate is to contribute to the restoration of normal conditions and entails the facilitation of an increasingly wide range of civilian activities.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.