A suspected Russian-made missile has landed in Northern Cyprus exploding outside a village, according to officials.

Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay spoke after the object came down on a mountainside north of the capital Nicosia overnight.

It is thought the missile may be part of an air defence system fired from Syria in response to an air attack by Israel.

Mr Ozersay said in a social media post: "The first assessment is that a Russian-made missile, part of the air defence system, which was part of the air defence system that took place last night in the face of an airstrike against Syria, completed its range and fell into our country after it missed."

Yapılan incelemelerde Temmuz 2018’de Türkiye’de Gaziantep’e düşen S-200 tipi Rus yapımı füze üzerinde yazan ifadeler ile dün akşam ülkemize düşen füze üzerinde yazan if
adeler aynı. Kesin olmamakla birlikte... https://t.co/dclgIKiMm2

— Kudret Özersay (@KudretOzersay) July 1, 2019

AP reported that Israeli airstrikes were taking place against targets in Syria around 200km away at the time of the blast.

Reuters said Syrian military positions in Homs and the Damascus outskirts came under attack overnight, with at least four civilians said to have been killed and another 21 wounded.

If confirmed, it would be the first time the island of Cyprus has been caught up in the crossfire of the Syrian war.

The object landed near the village of Tashkent, also known as Vouno, about 16km northeast of Nicosia.

It resulted in a bang that could be heard for miles around and set the hillside on fire.

Earlier, Ersin Tatar, the prime minister of the north of the divided island, said that no one was hurt in the pre-dawn explosion.

Greek Cypriot analyst Andreas Pentaras said images from the scene suggested it was a Russian-made S-200 missile.

Main image: An image, posted on Facebook by Cypriot Foreign Minister Kudret Ozersay, appears to show a missile that landed on the island | Image: Facebook/Kudret Özersay