A 17-year-old planning to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State (ISIL) was intercepted by counter-terrorism officers at Sydney Airport a fortnight ago, the Federal Government has revealed.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the incident happened on March 12 at the international terminal.

“There was a male, 17 years of age, who was offloaded after being interviewed by counter terrorism unit (CTU) officers at the Sydney Airport,” Mr Dutton said.

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“He was on his way to conflict in the Middle East and it comes off the back of two individuals – 16 and 17-year-olds, as you would be aware – who had been intercepted by CTU [Counter Terrorist Unit] officers just before that.”

Mr Dutton said security agencies were investigating the matter, but the boy had been returned to his family.

The boy has been returned to his family as security agencies continue to investigate the matter.

He said teams have been in place at all eight of Australia’s international airports since August, and of 85,000 people spoken to over that time, 200 had been intercepted and taken off flights.

“Many of these young people, even without the knowledge of their parents, are downloading and receiving information through social media and on the internet,” Mr Dutton said.

“This death cult is reaching through the computer screens into the minds of young Australians, brainwashing them and that is a great difficulty that all western democracies have.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott again warned young people against joining the militants.

“My message to them is, ‘don’t go, don’t go’,” he said.

“It is very dangerous for you, it is very dangerous for others and we will do everything we can to stop you if you do try to go.”

Teenage brothers stopped trying to travel to Syria

On March 6, two teenage brothers were intercepted at Sydney Airport on suspicion of attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIL fighters.

The pair were later released back into the custody of their parents.

Melbourne teen Jake Bilardi (centre) in an Islamic State photo. Photo: Twitter

The brothers’ luggage contained extremist paraphernalia and they were heading to Turkey, a common transit point for those joining ISIL.

This month also saw Melbourne teenager Jake Bilardi travel to Iraq where he carried out a suicide coming for IS.

The attack allegedly targeted an Iraqi armed unit west of Baghdad.

These incidents come amid a growing trend of young men travelling, or attempting to travel to the Middle East to fight for ISIL.

ISIL has a notorious online reach which features propaganda aimed at encouraging Western people to travel to conflict zones.

Last month, Attorney-General George Brandis flagged $18 million in funding for “real-time social media monitoring” and new measures including the active takedown of terrorist websites and postings.