Teens stopped at Sydney Airport on suspicion of trying to join ISIL

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Two Australian teenage brothers were stopped at Sydney Airport on suspicion of trying to head to the Middle East to join Islamic State militants, officials said Sunday.

The brothers, ages 16 and 17, were detained on Friday afternoon. Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton said they were heading to a Middle Eastern "conflict zone," the Associated Press reported. He did not say which country they were heading to.

Dutton also refused to say what was found in the brothers' luggage that had led to them being reported to the airport's new counterterrorism unit, said the AP.

Police said the pair, who cannot be identified because of their ages, were "subsequently unarrested and released into their parents' custody," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, adding that officers will not comment further because investigations are ongoing.

The broadcaster, citing unnamed sources, said extremist paraphernalia was in the teenagers' luggage, as well as a letter on how to fabricate a cover story to authorities when leaving the country. They were attempting to travel without their parents' knowledge, the ABC reported.

The broadcaster reported it has learned the brothers were headed for Turkey, a key transit point for people traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Last month, three teenage girls flew from London to Istanbul, from where they are believed to have crossed into Syria to join the extremists.

"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 told reporters, according to the AP.

He said their parents were "as shocked as any of us would be" to discover their sons had attempted to leave the country, said that they were radicalized over the Internet, the news agency reported. He did not say who paid for the flights.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said security agencies were monitoring about 400 people in the country, the ABC reported.

"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," Abbott told reporters.

"I'm pleased that they've been stopped and my message to anyone who is listening to the death cult is block your ears."

Dutton said charges would be filed against the boys, but did not elaborate, the AP reported. New legislation passed in October makes it a criminal offense to travel to terrorist zones without a legitimate reason.