Soldiers detained in plane laser case

Cypriot police say they have detained four soldiers suspected of using powerful lasers at night to blind aircraft pilots over the island's main airport of Larnaca.

Larnaca police chief Angelos Karadjias said today that the arrests were made after a citizen's tip-off. The four conscripts, aged 18 to 20, face reckless endangerment charges carrying a maximum two-year jail term or a €2,500 fine.

Karadjias said the suspects allegedly used commercially available, pen-sized lasers to target the cockpits of low-flying planes on approach to Larnaca.

Four separate incidents occurred over the last 18 days. The most recent one, involving a Greek Aegean Airlines plane, happened around midnight Tuesday