Australia says IS-linked families have booked return tickets from Syria

Australia says 13 women and children with links to Islamic State have booked tickets to return from a Syrian camp, with police warning that some adults may be arrested and charged on arrival.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government was alerted when the bookings were made hours earlier and had not provided help to the group.

He said the people involved had spent years in a camp in Syria and that the government would not assist their return.

The Australian Federal Police said officers would be ready when the group arrives, and Commissioner Krissy Barrett said some individuals would be arrested and charged.

She said those not arrested would continue to be investigated.

The case matters because it brings a long-running counterterrorism issue back into Australia's legal system and raises immediate questions about monitoring, prosecution and support for children returning from a conflict zone.

Officials said the 13 are part of a larger cohort of 34 believed to include wives, widows and children of IS fighters.

Burke said authorities have had long-standing plans in place to manage and monitor any return since 2014.

Barrett said investigators have spent more than a decade gathering evidence on possible terrorism offences and crimes against humanity, including slave trading.

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