Hackers target Bahrain airport, news sites to mark uprising

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hackers say they have taken down the websites of Bahrain’s international airport and state news agency to mark the 12-year anniversary of an Arab Spring uprising in the small Gulf country. A statement posted online by a group calling itself Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic, claimed to have hacked the airport website, which was unavailable for at least a half-hour at midday Tuesday. It also claimed to have taken down the website of the Bahrain News Agency, which was sporadically unavailable. Feb. 14, 2011, marked the first day of protests led by Bahrain’s Shiite majority against the Sunni monarchy. Bahrain quashed the uprising by force with the support of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.