"Assassination" is definitely only for people (also in stock phrases like character assassination). Why don't you like "attack"? It seems fine to me. If you know the actual means, you can use specific terms: bombing, firebombing, torching, arson, etc.

Attack sounds just a little too harsh for me, for the actual circumsance. I was hoping for a little less "drama".

Well, what was the actual circumstance? Anything that leads to someone's apartment being trashed and all their stuff burned sounds like pretty high drama to me.

Vielleicht geht hier "break-in"?
Ich finde "Attentat" klingt hier im Deutschen auch etwas seltsam, oder?

Even though Katydid is right, "break-in" sounds much better for me". Thank you. The actual circumstance was a "silent attack", what I mean is more someone sneaked in and caused a fire. Attack sounds in this context like high drama.

" ... in the assault on his apartment in ... "

wäre möglich hier.

Philipp, I don't think so -- if anything, "assault" (in the non-legal sense) is larger in scale than just "attack." A small group attacks, a regiment assaults the enemy position.

Ah, okay, Heidi, so it's a smaller occurrence. I was thinking they totally burned him out. I'd use "break-in" in that case as well. You don't need to add "and fire" because you already have the verb.

@Katydid #7: I'm not sure I agree "assault" is necessarily on a bigger scale than "attack", but anyway, I posted #6 before reading #5, and of course in the light of it neither "attack" nor "assault" are right here.

assassination attempt?

Attentat - refers to person?
otherwise perhaps onslaught

@noli, please read previous entries ...

phillip Attentat auf die Wohnung - implies assassination attempt on a person in a flat - that the letters burned was incidental

otherwise Attentat is wrongly used - would have been an Angriff

OT @ Philipp:

Here's M-W on assault:
1 a : a violent physical or verbal attack b : a military attack usually involving direct combat with enemy forces c : a concerted effort (as to reach a goal or defeat an adversary)
2 a : a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact — compare battery 1b b : rape 2

And the synonym entry on "assault" under "attack":
assault suggests a direct attempt to overpower by suddenness and violence of onslaught
That's where I get the sense of its being larger in scale than with a simple attack. Of course, it's a moot point for this inquiry, now. :-)

How about arson attack? (if the fire was caused on purpose, which I don't know)
To me, that doesn't necessarily imply a particularly large scale, only that an attack of sorts took place and fire was involved.

yes dragon but Attentat asks for a life - could be fire which is used to try to kill someone.

OT: @Katydid #12: I'd prefer to understand "assault" here in a transferred or figurative sense, e.g. sense #5 in OED, i.e. not a literally military attack:

5. transf. and fig. Hostile approach, attack, onset.

@noli: In the original sense, yes, "Attentat" does mean that a person was attacked, but nowadays it is used in a broader sense and also figuratively.

For example, a colleague might come into my office and say "Ich habe ein Attentat auf Dich vor". That doesn't mean that they want to kill me, only that they want to ask me some kind of favour (usually involving work on my side).
Or, if I arrive at where my car is parked only to discover that some bright spark has driven by too closely and torn the exterior mirror off, I could say "Jemand hat ein Attentat auf mein Auto verübt".

And as the original sentence says "Attentat ... auf seine Wohnung" we can safely assume that the apartment and not its inhabitant was the target of the attack.

OT @ Philipp - Yeah, but because it's an actual armed group that even calls itself an army (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_de_...), the commandos are exactly what spring to mind -- my mind, at least.

@Phillipp, Katydid: What do you think of my suggestion in #13?

I personally think it's OK, except that the OP was sort of dismissive about the fire, preferring to focus on the break-in (No. 5), which leads me to believe the fire wasn't necessarily the primary aim. It might have even been accidental (I would really like to make a pun on your "bright spark" here, but it's just too late at night.)

@Katydid: Ah, well I didn't read up on the OAS, being too busy ;-)

@Dragon: "arson attack" is a good idea as long as causing a fire was the main point of the break-in.