Bahrain websites attacked as it holds parliamentary election

Bahrain voted Saturday in a parliamentary and local election just hours after hackers targeted government websites in the island kingdom that is in the midst of a decade-long crackdown on dissent.
The Interior Ministry did not identify the websites targeted, but the country’s state-run Bahrain News Agency could not be reached online nor could the website for Bahrain’s parliament. Later, Bahrain’s election website could not be accessed from abroad, though the news agency’s website had been restored.
The Interior Ministry said, “Websites are being targeted to hinder the elections and circulate negative messages in desperate attempts that won’t affect the determination of citizens who will go to the polling stations,.”
Screenshots taken by internet users showed a picture after the hack claiming it was carried out by a previously unknown account called Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic. Social media accounts associated with Al-Toufan said the group targeted the parliament’s website “due to the persecution carried out by the Bahraini authorities, and in implementation of the popular will to boycott the sham elections.”
The account claimed Saturday afternoon it took down another government website, which wasn’t reachable from abroad.