ST. PETERSBURG, November 20 /TASS/. About 10,000 natives of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries are fighting on the side of the Islamic State terrorist group, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad told journalists in St. Petersburg on Friday.

"About 10,000 IS militants come from the CIS. They are also posing a threat to Russia’s national security," the diplomat said.

Russia has banned the Islamic State as an extremist organization.

About 2,000 terrorist groups operate in Syria

According to the ambassador, about 2,000 terrorist groups are operating in Syria, the largest of them is Islamic State.

"When the Russian Aerospace Forces began their operations, all small terrorist groups immediately affiliated with IS," he said. "Now terrorist forces comprise about 2,000 groups."

"With the support of Russian aircraft the Syrian army is conducting a ground operation and achieves great success," Riad Haddad said. "Many terrorists are retreating towards the Turkish border."

"We will continue to confront terror until its complete eradication," the ambassador said.