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Two Australians are among a Kuwait-based Islamic State cell that was supplying money, fighters and weapons including surface-to-air missiles to the militant group, Kuwaiti authorities say.
Kuwaiti media reported that the pair are on the run after their ringleader and five other members of the cell were arrested in Kuwait.
Hesham Mohammed Thahab and Rabia Thahab are described as "Lebanese-Australian nationals" who are now "at large abroad", the official Kuwait News Agency reported.
The Australian government says it is aware of the reports and is seeking further information from Kuwait, though it indicated that the pair might have been arrested, contradicting the local media reports.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking to confirm reports that two Australians have been arrested in Kuwait. The Australian Embassy in Kuwait is engaging with the Kuwaiti authorities," a department spokesperson said.
The cell was allegedly providing the Islamic State terror group with "recruiters, money, weaponry and logistical support", KUNA reported.
It said that the cell was led by Osama Khayat, a 45-year-old Lebanese national born in Kuwait who was "using his website for propaganda work for ISIL", which is an alternative name for Islamic State.
Khayat had "confessed that he that he has been in contact with the [Islamic State] group leaders in Syria and has made several arms deals for the main organisation, including deals for purchasing FN-6 missiles and other weaponry from Ukraine".
The Chinese FN-6 is an advanced shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missile that has reportedly been used by Syrian rebels to shoot down regime helicopters.
While it is highly unlikely to be successful against Australian Hornet or Super Hornet fight jets, it could be used against helicopters such as US Apache gunships which are being used in Iraq.
Ringleader Khayat reportedly told investigators the weapons were being shipped to Turkey and then smuggled into Syria. He also admitted sending money to Islamic State through Turkish bank accounts.
Six of the 10 cell-members have been arrested, including a Syrian national who owned a Ukraine-based arms company, KUNA reported. The others were Syrian, Egyptian and Kuwaiti.
The KUNA report does not detail what the Australians' involvement was.
199 people removed from international flights
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Friday that 199 passengers have been offloaded from international flights by counter-terrorism officers since July, marking a significant increase in interventions.
In the 2014-15 financial year there were 336 such interventions.
The passengers were offloaded for national security reasons, concerns about their intended travel destination or other suspicious behaviour.
"Maintaining strong security at our borders is critically important in stopping those with evil intent or impressionable young people who have fallen prey to terrorist propaganda from leaving Australia to join murderous terror groups like Islamic State," Mr Dutton said.
"Equally it is our frontline in stopping those who would seek to enter Australia to do us harm."
Mr Dutton said many offloaded passengers continued their journey at a later time, but a significant number were found to have been of national security concern.
with Nicole Hasham
