25 members of Anonymous collective were arrested by Interpol
Twenty-five alleged members of Anonymous collective were arrested by Interpol (Anonops)

Anonymous hackers have attacked the website of the Interpol after it announced the arrest of 25 suspected members of the collective in Europe and South America.

"TANGO DOWN? INTERPOL's website looks completely offline now - http://www.interpol.int/ Could it be in response to 25 Anons arrested? Dunno. ^_^" YourAnonNews ironically tweeted.

The website went down briefly as news spread that hacktivists from Anonymous were detained in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain.

Interpol launched Operation Unmask in mid-February after a series of cyber-attacks against private and governmental targets.

The international police agency said that about 250 items of IT equipment and mobiles were seized during searches of 40 premises across 15 cities. The suspected hackers are aged 17-40.

"This operation shows that crime in the virtual world does have real consequences for those involved and that the internet cannot be seen as a safe haven for criminal activity, no matter where it originates or where it is targeted," Bernd Rossebach was quoted in the Guardian.