While IS is rapidly losing territory in Iraq and Syria, this may increase the risk of revenge attacks in Southeast Asia -- and certain pockets of the region are receptive to radical Islamic ideology. Parts of Southeast Asia have long struggled with Islamic militancy and hundreds of radicals from the region have flocked to join IS. In the strife-torn southern Philippines, which has long battled a Muslim insurgency, a handful of Islamic extremist groups have sworn allegiance to IS. "There is an increased likelihood that the Islamic State will declare an official wilaya, or province, in Southeast Asia in 2017," Otso Iho of defence analysts IHS Janes said Wednesday. This would "most likely" happen in the southern Philippines, he added.

Source: The Nation Bangkok December 02, 2016 15:26 UTC