Russia Confirms Intel Sharing With Taliban on ISIS Fight

Russia Concerned About ISIS Expansion Into Former Soviet Republics

by Jason Ditz, 

An enemy for generations, Russia has announced a once unthinkable new intelligence sharing program, exchanging information with the Taliban on the growth of ISIS in Afghanistan.

Russia fought the Taliban during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and had been backing the NATO occupation in recent decades, but seems particularly concerned with ISIS’ presence in Afghanistan, as unlike the Taliban that group has ambitions that span far across the border.

That’s of particular concern with Afghanistan’s border with former Soviet states, as a growing ISIS presence could quickly span across the border into those countries, all close allies of Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry insisted that the sharing with the Taliban is limited only to details about ISIS, and that this isn’t going to mean any sort of real rapprochement with the Taliban, but simply another shift of focus toward ISIS, once Russia’s made region-wide lately.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/12/24/russia-confirms-intel-sharing-with-taliban-on-isis-fight/