Nearly half of the approximately 20,000 foreign militants fighting in Syria hail from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russian President Vladimir Putin said as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

"According to various estimates, about 20,000 foreign fighters are fighting in Syria, of which almost 10,000 are from the CIS countries," Putin said.

He further estimated that around 5,000 fighters are from Central Asian states.

"These are mainly CSTO countries, by the way," Putin stressed, underscoring the need to create a broad international anti-terrorist coalition.

Source: MENA