Cyprus National Guard Commander Lieutenant General Evangelos Florakis and four other army officers were killed Wednesday morning when their helicopter crashed near the southwestern town of Paphos, local radio reported.

Florakis, a retired military man from Greece, was appointed as commander of Cypriot National Guard in May 2000.

Florakis, born in Arta, Greece, in 1943, started his military career as a cadet in 1962 and graduated from various military schools, including the Parachuting Academy in Greece.

The National Guard, the Cyprus Republic's forces, consisting of 20,000 servicemen, is commanded by a Greek mainlander, plus a reserve forces of 100,000.

Cyprus also has a 2,000-strong Greek army, which provides for training for Cyprus's army.

Cyprus has been divided into the Turkish Cypriots-controlled north and the Greek Cypriots-dominated south since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island after a failed coup in Nicosia seeking union with Athens.

The 4500-strong Turkish Cypriot security forces in northern Cyprus are commanded by a Turkish mainlander, in addition to 40,000heavily-armed Turkish soldiers.