‘Asia fertile ground for IS ideology’

KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic State (IS) group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate” may have collapsed in the Middle East but Asia provides fertile territory for a resurrection, analysts say, as last month’s bloody Easter Sunday suicide attacks in Sri Lanka have shown.

Factors such as poverty, discrimination, radicalisation via social media, weak governance, and poor gathering and sharing of intelligence mean the region is vulnerable to attacks by extremists operating under the IS banner, even if they aren’t directly supported by the group.