Two Australians a day are being hauled off flights for security risks

EXCLUSIVE: Two Australians a day are being pulled off planes by counter terrorism units while the number of those supected of trying to reach the middle east is also on the rise.

THE number of Australians being hauled off planes by counter terrorism units on national security grounds has risen to an average of almost two a day, it has been revealed.

And in a trend that is concerning security and intelligence agencies, the number of those among them suspected of trying to reach the Middle East and join terrorist groups is also on the rise.

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal that since the counter terrorism units (CTUs) were deployed to major airports in August 2014, there had been 652 “offloads” in total.

Turkish Airlines plane diverted after bomb threat. Picture: Kayla Hounsell/KHounsellCTV/Twitter

But almost half of these – 316 - had occurred in the seven months from July 2015 to February 10 this year, indicating that the rate of interdictions to remove people from flights had risen by around 60 per cent.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that there had been a significant rise in the number of people being offloaded from planes by the CTUs attached to Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police.

While not all the interdictions were for suspicious travel plans, the Minister said that that rather than the numbers falling, there was a concerning escalation in the numbers of young Australians suspected of trying to leave to join terrorist armies in Iraq and Syria.

The likelihood of a short life appears not to have deterred them.

The consequences of getting it wrong can be devastating. Picture by Ben Stevens / i-Images

A third of all Australian jihadists to have recently joined terrorist groups overseas have now been killed either in air strikes or combat with local forces, with the government confirming the total now to be 51.

“A considerable number of people of national security concern have been intercepted by our Counter Terrorism Units at the borders,” Mr Dutton said.

“The CTUs have also managed to stop numbers of impressionable young people leaving our country to join terrorist groups overseas.

“While the rising number of offloads is a cause for concern at one level, it also highlights the effective and invaluable work the members of the CTUs are doing at our borders by intercepting travellers of concern.

“This Government is determined to do all it can to protect the Australian community.”

Offloads are defined as interventions to remove people from a flight on suspicion that they may pose a national security risk.

Supplied image from the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) allegedly intercepting Australians at Sydney airport in August who were allegedly on their way to enlist with terrorists in the Middle East.

In some cases a person may be allowed to once again travel if and when they are deemed to no longer pose a risk.

Attorney General George Brandis said young Australians seeking to travel to Iraq and Syria would be simply used as “cannon fodder”.

“Recruiters shamelessly mislead their young targets into believing they will taste glory in the so-called caliphate,” he said.

“In reality the duped recruits will be treated poorly and given inconsequential low rank, high risk tasks often resulting in death.”

ASIO director general Duncan Lewis told a Senate Estimates hearing the number of passports being cancelled was also “ticking” up every day. The number is now more than 160.

“There is a fairly constant turnover of this figure. Almost every day it is ticking up by one or two,” he said.

Supplied image from the Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) allegedly intercepting Australians at Sydney airport who are on their way to enlist with terrorists in the Middle East.