Sydney terror charge
New South Wales Police Commissioner Catherine Burn (R) and Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan address the media after two 16-year-old boys were charged with terror-related offences in Sydney on 13 October 2016 WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images

Police in Australia charged two 16-year-old boys for planning a terror attack after they were arrested with large knives in their possession. The teenagers had purchased the knives on Wednesday (12 October) and are believed to have been inspired by the Islamic State (Isis).

The boys, whose names have not been revealed, were arrested in a lane behind a Muslim prayer hall in southwest Sydney by a counter-terrorism team, ABC reported. They allegedly had some notes pledging their allegiance to IS (Daesh).

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They were charged on Thursday and if convicted could face life imprisonment for "acts done in preparation, or planning, terrorist acts" and for being members of a terrorist organisation.

New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said at a news conference, "We don't have any specific information of a particular target where we will allege that there was going to be an imminent attack. What we do know, though, is that the actions, we will allege, were enough to say they were preparing to do an attack although we don't know specifically where that attack was going to take place."

"The attack was inspired by Islamic State. The charge that relates to membership of an organisation, we will allude to their association or allegiance with Islamic State," she said of the charges that were levelled against the duo.

According to ABC, one of the boys is related to convicted terrorist Hamdi Alqudsi. The boys did not appear in Parramatta Children's court on Thursday morning and did not apply for bail. They will reappear in court in December.

The Australian police further said that it has now stopped 11 incidents that could lead to terror attacks in the country in the last two years.