Hackers mark uprising targeting Bahrain airports, news sites

dubai – Hackers said they took down Bahrain’s international airport and the website of the state news agency on Tuesday to mark the 12th anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising in the small Gulf country.

A statement posted online by a group calling themselves Al-Toufan (Arabic for “Flood”) claimed to have hacked the airport’s website, which was unavailable for at least 30 minutes during the day. It also claimed to have taken down the state-run Bahrain News Agency website, which was sporadically unavailable.

The group posted an image showing 504 Gateway Timeout Errors and said the hack was “to aid the revolution of the oppressed Bahraini people.”

The same group appears to have hacked the website of the Bahraini government newspaper Akhbar Al Khaleej hours ago and altered the article. The newspaper’s website was also down on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from authorities.

February 14, 2011 was the first day of protests led by Bahrain’s Shia majority against the Sunni monarchy. Bahrain, with the backing of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, eventually crushed the riots by force, but sporadic unrest has continued in recent years.

Authorities have imprisoned Shiite activists, deported others, stripped hundreds of their civil rights, and closed major independent newspapers.

The same mysterious hacker group Targeted government website The November elections were boycotted by banned Shia opposition groups and others.