Sydney, March 8 (IANS): Two teenaged brothers travelling to the Middle East were stopped by officials at the Sydney airport, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday.

The 16- and 17-year-olds were stopped by authorities at Sydney airport on Friday in possession of return tickets to an undisclosed location in the Middle East, ABC reported.

A search of their luggage raised further suspicions with regard to their intent.

Customs officers determined that they were intending to travel without the knowledge of their parents.

Dutton said the boys were stopped on their way to a potentially dangerous situation, and their parents were "shocked" to learn of their plans.

"These two young men, aged 16 and 17, are kids, not killers," he said.

"They shouldn't be allowed to go to a foreign land to fight and to come back to our shores eventually more radicalised."

"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," he added.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott acknowledged the officials for stopping the duo, saying the boys were prevented from doing something "very dangerous".

"We know that there are other people who might be tempted to do silly things, and these are two youngsters who ... suddenly got it into their head to go and do something that is very dangerous for them and potentially very dangerous for others," he said.

He said there were about 400 people in Australia that security agencies are currently monitoring.

The brothers were later allowed the leave the airport with their parents, and were issued court attendance notices.

Last week, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop listed both the province of Al-Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq as off-limits.

Australians found to be illegally visiting the regions could face up to 10 years of imprisonment.