Australian authorities have intercepted two brothers at the airport in Sydney under the suspicion of attempting to join Islamic State, ISIS.
According to Peter Dutton, Australian Immigration Minister, the boys aged 16 and 17 were spotted as they attempted to pass through customs at the Sydney International Airport, Australia.
“The pair had been radicalized online and were headed for an unidentified conflict zone. These two young men aged 16 and 17 are kids, not killers, and they shouldn’t be allowed to go to a foreign land to fight then come back to our land eventually more radicalized,” Dutton said.
The immigration minister stated that the boys, whose names were withheld due because they are under aged minors, were issued with court notices, implying they had been charged.
However, a spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police, AFP, stated on Monday that while there was an on-going investigation into the incident, no charges had been brought against the boys and they have been released into the custody of their parents.
Commenting on the incident, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the boys had “succumbed to the lure” of IS.
“These were two misguided young Australians, Australian born and bred, who went to school here, grew up here, imbibed our values, and yet it seems they had succumbed to the lure of the death cult and they were on the verge of doing something terrible and dangerous,” he said.
I am pleased that they’ve been stopped and my message to anyone who is listening to the death cult is block your ears. Don’t even begin to think you can leave Australia,” he added.
According to media reports, it is estimated that at least 90 Australian citizens are fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
In a bid to stem the exodus and alliance with extremists, Australia last week made it a criminal offence for any citizen to set foot in the Islamic State, ISIS, stronghold of Mosul without a legitimate reason such as a visit to family.
Any Australian who travels to the city could face 10 years in prison.
Similar restrictions making it an offence for Australian citizens to travel to the Syrian province of al-Raqqa, another IS stronghold, were put in place in December.