A nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian.

The London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence reports that between 100 and 250 Australians have joined Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria. Given Australia’s vast distance from the region and its population of just 24 million, it is a remarkable number. The center estimates that about 100 fighters came from the United States, which has more than 13 times as many people as Australia.

Experts disagree about why the Islamic State group has been so effective recruiting in Australia, which is widely regarded as a multicultural success story, with an economy in an enviable 24th year of continuous growth.

Possible explanations include that some Australian Muslims are poorly integrated with the rest of the country, and that Islamic State recruiters have given Australia particular attention. In addition, the Australian government failed to keep tabs on some citizens who had been radicalized, and moderate Muslims have been put off by some of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s comments about their community.

Greg Barton, a global terrorism expert at Monash University in Melbourne, said Australia and some other countries underestimated Islamic State’s “pull factor.” (Read more from “Australia a Puzzling Hotbed of Islamic State Recruiting” HERE)

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US warplanes have bombed a small drone used by Islamic State extremists in Iraq, marking the first time American-led forces had targeted an unmanned aircraft flown by the jihadists, officials said Wednesday.

The strike took place on Tuesday near the western city of Fallujah, destroying “a remotely piloted aircraft” and a vehicle with the IS forces, according to a statement from the US military command overseeing the campaign against the group.

The drone, used for battlefield surveillance, was “small-scale” and not a sophisticated aircraft equivalent to some US-made robotic planes that can fly at high altitudes or launch missiles, US defense officials said.

After flying the drone for a short period, Islamic State militants placed it on a vehicle. American aircraft then struck the vehicle near Fallujah, officials said. (Read more from “Officials: US Bombs ISIS Drone in Iraq” HERE)

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The Islamic State group released a video Tuesday that purports to show the killing of a Palestinian man accused of being a spy for Israeli intelligence.

In the 13-minute video posted online, a militant and a boy dressed in camouflage stand behind a man in an orange jumpsuit kneeling on the ground.

The fighter makes a brief statement in French accusing the man of working for the Mossad before the boy steps forward and shoots the captive, identified as Mohamed Said Ismail Musalam, in the head.

The Associated Press could not independently verify video, but it was released by the IS group’s Furqan media arm and corresponds to previous IS videos.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined comment. Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said that it announced earlier this year that Musalam had left for Turkey to fight with IS. (Read more from “ISIS Video Appears to Show Child Soldier Executing ‘Israeli Spy'” HERE)

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By Dipesh Gadher and Tom Harper. Hundreds of donors have pledged their support for an advocacy group that defended Jihadi John and was accused by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, of being “apologists for terror”.

The group, called Cage, has tapped into grassroots support, raising more than £18,000 [almost $30,000] in the past few days through an online appeal after its bank accounts were closed and its main charity backers were forced to stop funding it. (Read more about Brits pledging to defend Jihadi John HERE)

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‘Jihadi John’ Issues Apology – For ‘Shaming His Parents’

By Ari Soffer. Mohammed Emwazi, the man revealed as ISIS executioner “Jihadi John”, has reportedly written a letter to his family apologizing for “shaming” them – but not for his murderous acts.

According to the UK’s Sunday Times, Emwazi sent a letter to his family – who, since he was outed as the face behind the black-clad jihadi killer have fled Britain back to Kuwait – in which he said he was sorry for the “problems and trouble the revelation of his identity has caused.”

The letter reached his family via a third party from Syria, where Mohammed is based.

But notably he did not express any remorse whatsoever for the gruesome beheadings of a series of western and Japanese hostages, mainly aid-workers and journalists.

Experts told the Times Emwazi’s apology was likely made due to his fear of a belief among some Muslims that those who dishonor their parents go to hell instead of “paradise” after they die. (Read more from this story HERE)

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