Bomb threats were sent to more than 215 schools in Cyprus on Tuesday morning , police confirmed.

A police spokesman confirmed to the Cyprus Mail that the threats had been received but that police had not found any explosives in any of the schools searched. He added that searches and investigations in the schools were ongoing.

The email address used to send the threats is a disposable email address from a Russian provider. However, police spokeswoman Kyriaki Lambrianidou quickly clarified that this does not mean that the sender is based in Russia.

She added that both the international police organisation Interpol and the European Union's police cooperation network Europol had been informed and that "similar threats" had been made to both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary .

The police also confirmed that a "crisis center" had been set up to deal with the case and that they were "in cooperation and communication" with the Ministry of Education.

In the Paphos district, more than 45 schools received threatening emails; Theoskepasti Special School in Paphos town was one of the first to receive a threat.

Students, teachers and accompanying staff were evacuated from the school as a precautionary measure while police searched the premises and determined that no bomb had been left there.

The message sent to parents of the American Academy in Larnaca
The threat was sent in Greek and read as follows:

" There is a bomb on the school grounds. With raised swords we will put you to flight . We demand your lives, for Allah's sovereignty is our command. The wind is rough and whispers in your ear that death awaits you. We will spread fear and terror on your shores, as the brothers did in Sri Lanka, until we reach our star.

"Our hearts will burn in the light of Islamic law. We will fill the sky with fire and we will pray. The day the infidels will die . We will conquer every inch of European soil. Whoever doubts, we will kill. The blood of children will drink the sand of the desert. Their cries will rise to heaven. Your world will collapse in your hands."

“In the end, only Islam will remain.”

Parallels were quickly drawn with a similar threat sent to schools across Cyprus in May last year , but it was ultimately proven to be a hoax.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou said at the time that protocols for such cases include evacuating children from classrooms while the police are informed of the incident.

Following the inspections, the threat risk was assessed as ‘low’ and the children were returned to their classrooms.

The bomb threat in Greek
bomb threat

Source: CyprusMail.com

Author: Tom Cleaver