Middle East-bound teens ‘stopped at Sydney airport’

Australia Sunday said it stopped two
teenage brothers at Sydney Airport
believed to be heading to the Middle East
to fight, amid growing concern in Western
countries over young people joining
jihadist groups.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said
the two boys, aged 16 and 17 and from
Sydney, had tickets to an undisclosed
Middle Eastern country and raised the
suspicions of customs officers on Friday
night.

The case came as the families of three
British schoolgirls who left their London
homes to join Islamic State (IS) militants
in Syria in February criticised authorities
for not warning them their children risked
being radicalised.

“These two young men… are kids, not
killers, and they shouldn’t be allowed to
go to a foreign land to fight and to come
back to our shores eventually more
radicalised,” Dutton told reporters.

“In some cases, these young people who
are going off to fight in areas like Syria
will be killed themselves and that’s a
tragedy for their families, for their
communities, and for our country.”

The minister said a search of the boys’
luggage raised more questions about their
trip and they were referred to the federal
police’s counter-terrorism unit.

He said the two youths “had taken a very
radical decision ultimately without the
knowledge of their parents”.
“Their parents, as I understand it, were as
shocked as any of us would be.”

An Australian Federal Police
spokeswoman said in a statement that the
boys, whose identities were not released,
were “arrested under suspicion of
attempting to prepare for incursions into
foreign countries for the purpose of
engaging in hostile activities”.

They were later handed back to their
parents and an investigation is ongoing,
she said.
Dutton would not say if the teens were
linked to the IS group.

About 100
Australians were fighting with IS and
other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq,
with another 150 supporting them at
home, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said
last week.

Australia announced Tuesday it was
sending another 300 troops to Iraq in a
joint mission with New Zealand to help
train local forces fighting to reclaim
territory seized by IS.

The nation has stepped up its security
measures amid fears of heightened
threats from “home-grown” IS-inspired
extremists, including revoking citizenship
for dual nationals linked to terrorism.