According to Jornal de Notícias, a the Guarda Judiciary Police (PJ) has been investigating the two brothers, aged 23 and 27, who have been living for three months in a village in the Almeida council area, on suspicion of links to radical Islamic groups.

Early this morning SIC Notícias also reported that the two men, of Portuguese descent, had been arrested on Friday after a search of their home in which, “two 9 millimetre pistoils, ammunition, a knuckle duster and an aerosol, and one of the weapons was wrapped in a bloody rag.”

According to the TV station the two men have a criminal background in France, where they were involved in crimes including robberies and fraud.

A copy of the Holy Quran, Islam’s sacred text, was also found in the house and one of the suspects said he had converted to Islam four years ago.

The two men said they had been sent to Portugal by their mother, who lives in France, who asked them to tend to their father’s grave, which is in the area.

SIC Notícias, said the PJ had started its investigation in January when one of the brothers checked into a local hospital with a bullet wound to the leg. He was unable to explain how he had been shot and said that he had been walking his dog when he heard a noise and realised he had been hit.