The Federal Government has confirmed that a 17-year-old Australian boy who slipped out of the country last year was responsible for a terrorist suicide attack in Iraq last week which killed five people

The Federal Government has confirmed that a 17-year-old Australian boy who slipped out of the country last year was responsible for a terrorist suicide attack in Iraq last week which killed five people.

Attorney-General George Brandis’s office confirmed to The Daily Telegraph last night the boy was 17 when he left Australia last year. He had turned 18 by the time of the suicide attack, believed to have involved a belt bomb detonated in a busy market place near a mosque in Baghdad killing civilians.

Reports said the so-called Islamic State terrorist group named him as Abu Bakr al-Australi on an affiliated Twitter feed.

“This is a disturbing development and is a further example of the dangerous and volatile situation in Iraq at present,” Brandis said in a statement. “The government deplores the violent actions being undertaken by ISIL and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, and is deeply concerned about the involvement of Australians in these activities. "As I have said many times, it is illegal for Australians to engage in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the government urges Australians not to travel to the region."
  
The statement said he was the second Australian suicide bomber in the Iraq and Syria conflicts, without providing further details.
  
Last month Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was deeply concerned that about 150 Australians, some dual citizens, were learning the "terrorist trade" fighting alongside militants in Iraq and Syria.

"The participation by Australians in the conflict in Iraq and Syria poses a significant domestic security threat to Australia when those involved return home and seek to pursue violence here," said Brandis. "The government will continue to take all necessary measures to keep Australia and Australian interests safe."