LONDON (AP) — Supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad hijacked the Twitter account for the BBC’s weather service on Thursday and posted messages that were by turns political, anti-Semitic and comical.
The BBC confirmed that the Twitter account was one of its own and had been hacked. No further details were immediately available.
The hackers identified themselves as members of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that has carried out a string of web attacks against targets such as Al-Jazeera, which it sees as sympathetic to Syria’s rebels.
Among the messages posted by the BBC Weather Twitter account on Thursday were “Long Live Syria Al-Assad”and “Saudi weather station down due to head-on collision with camel.”
A further message claimed Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered terrorists to launch chemical weapons at civilian areas in North Syria.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
The hackers posted about 10 messages before signing off. All of the tweets were later deleted.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
Is our live election coverage important to you?
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the 2026 Israeli election? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
- Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock to report political developments as they unfold;
- Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and podcasts; and
- Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including our DocuNation streaming film series and weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
Join The Times of Israel Community
JOIN NOW
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
