Indonesia may be declared the next Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) province, said terrorism expert Professor Rohan Gunaratna.

And when an area is declared a “province”, resources including foreign fighters move in and join local groups to impose ISIS’ will – this includes its vision of a caliphate.

ISIS leader Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi had earlier declared only areas in and around the Middle East such as Sinai, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen as “provinces”.

Prof Gunaratna of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) said: “There is a misperception that the IS (another name for ISIS) threat is Syria- and Iraq-centric.

“IS is going beyond its core area. It is sprinting while some governments are trying to play catch-up.”