Australian news and politics live: ISIS brides and their children land back in Australia, three arrested

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Australian Federal Police counter terrorism assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt confirmed the three brides had been arrested at a press conference on Thursday night.

He said Ms Abbas was expected to be charged with four offences relating to slavery and Ms Ahmed was expected to face two slavery-related charges.

Ms Safar is expected to be charged with entering or remaining in a declared area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.

The AFP have confirmed two more ISIS brides have been taken into custody upon arrival into Australia.

Melbourne grandmother Kawsaw Abbas, 53, and her adult daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were arrested on arrival into Melbourne airport by joint counter terrorism teams under Operation Kurrajong.

In Sydney, former nursing student Janai Safar, 32, was also arrested on arrival, making it three ISIS brides arrested in total.

The AFP is understood to be addressing the media in a press conference shortly.

An ISIS-linked Australian woman was taken into custody as she arrived in the country on Thursday evening alongside another three ISIS brides and their nine children and grandchildren.

Melbourne grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, her two adult daughters, Zahra Ahmed, 33, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, and their eight children landed in Melbourne just after 5pm Australian eastern standard time.

In Sydney, former nursing student Janai Safar and her nine-year-old son also landed on Thursday evening.

There was a heavy police presence in the arrivals hall of both airports as the planes touched down.

Ms Safar, her son, and an unknown man were escorted off their flight in Sydney by police, according to passengers on board.

It is understood Ms Safar was taken into custody before she went through the arrival gates and was whisked away with her son.

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Passengers on board the Sydney flight with ISIS bride Janai Safar and her son on board have revealed the pair had been escorted off the plane by police.

The Australian reports four Federal police officers took the pair, plus a man who appeared to be traveling with them, off the plane and to other police officers who were waiting on the ground.

“We had to wait a while before we got off the plane but that was about it,” he told reporters.

“I wasn’t concerned … they just walked them off the plane.”

ISIS bride Janai Safar and her nine-year-old son have arrived in Australia on a commercial flight from Doha.

Police are in the arrivals hall at Sydney Airport waiting for the former nursing student to disembark.

She is among a group of women who are accused of travelling to Syria to support Islamic State fighters.

Some have previously claimed they were either misled or followed family members into the conflict zone.

A group of ISIS brides and their children have landed in Melbourne on board a commercial flight.

The group, including Melbourne grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, her two adult daughters, Zahra Ahmed, 33, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, and their eight children can expect to be met by police.

Earlier, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said some of the women will be arrested upon landing, as part of an operation that had been planned for years.

“Some individuals will be arrested and charged. I will not flag how many individuals will be arrested or when they will be arrested to protect a number of our investigations,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Some will face continued investigations when they arrive in Australia.”

Australian Federal Police officers have been pictured at Sydney Airport ahead of the expected arrival of a group of so-called ISIS brides and their children from Syria.

Janai Safar and her son are due to arrive at Sydney Airport within minutes.

They are part of a group of four women and nine children who are returning to Australia after years spent in a Syrian detention camp.

The others are on a commercial flight heading to Melbourne which is due to land around the same time.

Syrian officials told the ABC the Australian government was the “deciding factor” in the departure of the ISIS bride group, expected to land within minutes.

But the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says there had been no contact with Syrian officials regarding the women and children.

“The Australian Government is not repatriating people from Syria,” a spokesperson said.

Two commercial flights carrying a group of ISIS-linked women and their children have arrived in Australian airspace and are expected to arrive in just over an hour.

The so-called ISIS brides cohort are scheduled to land in Melbourne and Sydney around 5.20pm local time.

It is understood some of the women in the group could be arrested on arrival.

Kawsar Abbas, 54, her two adult daughters, Zahra Ahmed, 33, and Zeinab Ahmed, 31, and their eight children are headed to Melbourne, while former nursing student Janai Safar and her nine-year-old son are on board the Sydney-bound flight.