Turkey has discovered another naval mine off the Black Sea coast of Kefken, some 140 kilometres to the north-east of Istanbul, the Defence Ministry said. Special units were on site to ‘intervene’ after the mine was spotted by a reconnaissance plane, the ministry said on Twitter.
It follows the discovery of two mines in the final week of March. The two mines were defused after being discovered in the Bosporus Strait and in the Black Sea near the Bulgarian border, respectively.
As a result, Turkish authorities banned night-time fishing off the north-western coast until further notice. It remains unclear whether the mines are connected to the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of placing naval mines in the Black Sea. – dpa