Manama, Bahrain

The island nation of Bahrain, which has been fighting dissent for ten years, conducted its  parliamentary and local elections on Saturday, just hours after its official websites was taken over by hackers. Although the interior ministry did not specify which websites were hacked, neither Bahrain's official government website nor that of the national Bahrain News Agency were accessible online. Later, even after the news agency's website had been restored, access to Bahrain's election website from overseas was still blocked.

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“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,” the interior ministry said.

Internet users captured screenshots of a photo following the hack that claimed it was executed by a previously unidentified account named Al-Toufan, or "The Flood" in Arabic. Al-Toufan-affiliated social media posts said that the organisation targeted the parliament's website "because of the persecution carried out by the Bahraini authorities, and in implementation of the people's demand to boycott the sham elections."

Also read | Before and after images show dramatic expansion of Bahrain by building land on sea: 1987 vs 2022

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The election was broadcast on Bahraini state television, and 55 polling places around the nation were said to be operating "smoothly," according to the state-run news agency.

A few hours had passed before Bahrain's legislative and municipal elections when the incident took place. The 40 members of Bahrain's lower house of parliament, the Council of Representatives, are chosen by the people. The King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, appoints members to the Consultative Council, the upper house of the parliament.

(With inputs from agencies)

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