Spanish jet fires missile on Estonia by mistake

By Serife Cetin

BRUSSELS

A Spanish air force jet on Tuesday accidentally fired a missile over Estonia without causing any harm, the Estonian Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

The missile was fired from Eurofighter Typhoon 2000 jet during NATO's Baltic air-policing mission and hit a small Estonian town near the Russian border.

Following the incident, Estonia's Prime Minister Juri Ratas said on Facebook that the accident was "extremely regrettable" and "thank God" caused "no human casualties".

"I am sure that the Estonian defense forces will, in cooperation with our allies, identify all the circumstances of the case and make every effort to make sure that nothing like this happens again," the premier added.

Both Estonia and Spain opened investigation into the incident, while the Estonian air force has launched a search operation for the missile.