A top Afghan militant commander has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin held an unpublicised meeting with Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the current Taliban chief, to discuss possible Russian support against the ISIS insurgents who in recent weeks have been advancing in Afghanistan, a media report said. Putin is known to be concerned that the IS militants are gaining a foothold in Afghanistan, which borders the former Soviet satellite states of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
A Taliban commander said that his group had been promised Russian arms and financial support only weeks before a resurgence in violence that has seen key districts in the southern province of Helmand fall under the Taliban control. Putin is said to have met Mulla Mansour over dinner at a late night meeting on a military base in Tajikistan in September. In a statement, the Taliban said they were in contact with countries in the region but had not discussed support against the ISIS.