Three members of the UN Cyprus Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) are hospitalized after being attacked by the Turkish Cypriot side in the dead zone near Pyla.

UNFICYP spokesman Alim Siddique told the Cyprus News Agency (CYPE) that three UNFICYP members were injured, two of whom suffered serious injuries. One of them was injured in the head. All of them are being treated. “One was kicked while on the ground,” Siddique said.

In a statement, UNFICYP condemned the attack against its members, as well as against its vehicles, stressing that the UN Cyprus Peacekeeping Force remains committed to ensuring the maintenance of calm and stability in the region.

The Cypriot government condemned the organized incidents caused this morning by the Turkish occupying forces in the dead zone in the area of ​​Pylas and the unacceptable attack against British and Slovak members of the UN Peacekeeping Force, government spokesman Konstantinos Letympiotis said in a statement.

Members of the United Nations peacekeeping force were forcibly moved by uniformed Turkish Cypriot police and military personnel, a witness told Reuters. Turkish Cypriot bulldozers had moved UN trucks, concrete pillars and barbed wire in the dead zone controlled by the UN force.

The incident was condemned by the US, Britain and France, three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. “These actions are completely unacceptable and undermine the UN’s ability to fulfill its peacekeeping mandate,” their embassies said in a joint statement.

On the European side, European Council President Charles Michel also condemned the episode.

The European Parliament condemns the attack by the Turkish Cypriots in the Dead Zone, emphasizes the President of the EP, Roberta Metsola

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, expressed her deep concern about today’s attack against the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in Cyprus in Pyla, with a message on twitter.

Specifically, R. Metsola states:

“I am deeply concerned about today’s attack on the United Nations peacekeeping force in Pyla. The European Parliament condemns these attacks and reiterates its call for the resumption of reunification talks. Trust, not violence, must be the way forward.”