Indonesian military chief on Monday (June 12) said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has presence in nearly all provinces across Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country.
Jakarta attacks: Hundreds of school children rally against terrorism after Islamic State attacks
General Gatot Nurmantyo's comments about the "sleeper" cells in Indonesia have further increased concerns over the foothold of the extremist group of Syria and Iraq in Southeast Asia.
"After observation, we see that in almost every province ... there are already IS cells, but they are sleeper cells," Nurmantyo told reporters in the capital, Jakarta.
He said the sleeper cells could easily join forces with radical cells. Governments across the region have been on high alert since Islamic State-linked militants in Southern Philippines took over almost 20% of the Marawi City about three weeks ago.
Both Indonesia and Malaysia share borders with the Philippines. "It's easy to jump from Marawi to Indonesia and we must all beware of sleeper cells being activated in Indonesia," Nurmantyo said.
Indonesia and Malaysia have rounded up scores of suspected militants recently.
The first ISIS offensive was witnessed in Jakarta when a gun-and-bomb attack killed four people last year. On May 24, three policemen were killed when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a busy bus terminal in Jakarta. The incident had injured five civilians and five policemen.
