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Reuters Says Its Website Was Hacked, Fake Syria Stories Posted

The wire service Reuters says its blogging service was compromised today. The people responsible, Reuters said, took the opportunity to post a fake news story about Syria.

Reuters reports:

"One of the false posts purported to be an interview with Riad al-Asaad, the head of the Free Syrian Army.

"'Reuters did not carry out such an interview and the posting has been deleted,' the Reuters statement said.

"In the purported interview, the FSA leader was alleged to have said his forces were pulling back from the northern province of Aleppo after clashes with the Syrian army."

As the AP reports, it's still unknown who is behind the hacking. Reuters said that Syrian opposition blamed the regime of Bashar Assad.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.