Two Held over Cyprus 'Gangland' Rocket Attack

Two Greek Cypriots were remanded in Cyprus police custody Thursday over a deadly rocket attack at the home of a suspected underworld figure, authorities said.

The men, aged 38 and 29, were taken into police custody for eight days after appearing before a Nicosia district court, police said.

The suspects, whose names were not given, face possible charges of premeditated murder as well as using and transporting firearms and explosives.

Assailants with an AK-47 assault rifle and a light ant-tank rocket opened fired Tuesday night on the home of Alexis Mavromichalis in the Nicosia suburb of Strovolos, killing a man guarding the house.

The victim was named as 28-year-old Stephanos Papadopoulos.

Mavromichalis, 37, had been a key witness in a trial for the murder of media tycoon Andis Hadjicostis in 2010.

He was at home with his wife, child and another friend during the attack, nobody in the house was harmed.

The attack is believed to be a settling of gangland scores, and police are monitoring underworld suspects to prevent a turf war in the capital.

Violence of this kind is rare, but Cyprus was plagued by gangland conflicts in the early 1990s.

And in 2013, five bodyguards were killed on a busy weekend night in the seaside resort of Ayia Napa when two hired gunmen opened fire on a car belonging to a businessman who they thought was traveling in it.