Counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation into a Sydney mother-of-two who has reportedly flown to the Middle East to join Islamic State.
It is feared Jasmina Milovanov, 26, left her home in Sydney's west earlier this month to fly to Syria, leaving behind her two young children, aged seven and five.
- Do you know more? Email us, message us on Twitter @smh.
Ms Milovanov is Facebook friends with former Melbourne woman and jihadi bride recruiter Zehra Duman, whose husband, former Melbourne man Mahmoud Abdullatif, is believed to have been killed fighting with the Islamic State earlier this year.
The pair had been married for just a month before Mr Abdullatif reportedly died, and Ms Duman has since been using social media to recruit other women to move to the war-ravaged region and join the terrorist organisation.
NSW Police could not confirm a News Corp Australia report that Ms Milovanov left her son and daughter with a babysitter earlier this month while she said she was going to pick up a new car.
Ms Milovanov never returned home, and later sent a text message to her estranged husband saying she had travelled to Syria, the newspaper reported.
A NSW Police spokeswoman confirmed that counter-terrorism police were investigating a woman who had reportedly flown overseas.
"As the matter is a current investigation by NSW Police attached to the Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, it is not appropriate to comment further," she said.
Fairfax Media has attempted to contact Ms Milovanov for further comment.
A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police said he could not comment on the investigation.
On Monday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said 100 Australians were engaged in fighting in the Middle East with various extreme terrorist organisations, and that another 150 Australians in this country were known to be actively supporting them. That has ASIO investigating about 400 cases files, he said.
He warned Australians that home-grown terrorism was "getting worse not better" and now represents "a serious threat to our safety as a people and as a nation".
Attorney-General George Brandis branded Islamist terrorism in particular "the greatest national security challenge we are likely to face in our lifetimes".
