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A woman rests near rubble in the Syrian town of Darat Izza in Aleppo Province on February 28.
A woman rests near rubble in the Syrian town of Darat Izza in Aleppo Province on February 28.

Live Blog: Tracking Islamic State

Follow all of the latest developments as they happen.

Latest News For February 29

-- The United States Army's elite Delta Force is on the verge of beginning operations to target, capture or kill top IS operatives in Iraq, after several weeks of covert preparation, an administration official with direct knowledge of the force's activities told CNN.

-- Syrian government forces have regained control of a road used by the army to access Aleppo, after making advances against Islamic State fighters, a monitoring group and state television reported.


-- Authorities in Iraq say the death toll from a double bombing at a market in Baghdad’s Shi’ite neighborhood of Sadr City rose to 73 on February 29 after several critically wounded victims died overnight.

-- Tajik media are reporting that a woman known to be the second wife of Gulmurod Halimov, the fugitive Tajik colonel who defected to the IS group, has left for Syria along with the couple's four young children.

-- The UN is poised to begin delivering aid to people living in besieged areas of Syria, making use of a truce brokered by the United States and Russia. The first deliveries are planned for Feb. 29, with aid due to reach about 150,000 Syrians in besieged areas over the next five days.

-- A truce negotiated between Syrian rebels and the government has caused a dramatic decrease in airstrikes around rebel-held territory, but there were few celebrations, with many residents suspecting a trick, CNN report.

* NOTE: Live blog posts are time-stamped according to Central European Time (CET).

11:47 5.1.2016

11:45 5.1.2016

Reuters has more on the emerging reports that IS militants are attacking Libya's oil port of Sidra for the second day.

IS militants resumed shelling near Sidra and an oil storage tank in the port was hit, causing it to set on fire, according to Reuters, who are citing a Petroleum Facilities Guard spokesman and the National Oil Corporation.

The guards spokesman said the militants were 30-40 km (19-25 miles) from the port, which they also targeted on Monday in an attack that left seven guards dead and 25 wounded.

11:43 5.1.2016

The IS group in Libya is "determined to seize oil fields/facilities in Libya," says the Atlantic Council's Mohamed Eljarh.

11:42 5.1.2016

Amid reports that IS militants have resumed their attacks on Libya's oil terminals Sidra and Ras Lanuf today, it is worth recalling that the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) -- set up in 2012 to protect Libya's oil installations -- asked Libya's internationally recognized government in August for more weapons to help it combat IS.

Exports of crude oil from Sidra and Ras Lanuf stopped in December 2014 when the state-run National Oil Corp. declared force majeure.

11:37 5.1.2016

IS militants are attacking the Libyan oil terminals Sidra and Ras Lanuf and are reportedly shelling with rockets, according to sources in the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG).

11:33 5.1.2016

There are reports of fresh clashes in west of Sidra in Libya between IS militants and fighters from Ibrahim Jadhran's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG).

IS launched an offensive against Sidra on January 4 but were pushed back.

11:15 5.1.2016

Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), the armed group ostensibly under the control of the country's Baida-based government, has said that the oil port of Sidra is now safe.

IS militants attacked Sidra, Libya's largest oil terminal, on January 4, but were pushed back.

Al-Hassi also said that reports that IS had taken over the city of Bin Jawad were untrue and that IS were based 40 kilometers west of Sidra.

11:08 5.1.2016

France has begun one-year condemnations of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris in which 11 people were killed.

11:04 5.1.2016

The British man believed to be the main suspect in the latest IS propaganda video traveled to Syria despite being on bail for alleged terrorism offenses, The Telegraph is reporting.

Siddhartha Dhar, also known as Abu Rumasayah, was arrested in September 2014 on suspicion of belonging to the banned group Al-Muhajiroun.

But hours after being granted police bail, Dhar traveled by bus to Paris and then on to Syria where he joined IS.

10:52 5.1.2016

Tribal leaders in Iraq's Anbar province have said that tribal and security forces have mobilized amid an advance by IS militants near the town of Barwana near Haditha, local media report.

Sheikh Naim Kaoud of the Albu Nimr said that IS was attacking Barwana and Haditha from four directions and that large numbers of IS militants had advanced from Mosul, Syria and Hit towards Haditha.

There are reports from Kurdish and Arabic news sources that Iraqi aircraft are targeting IS near Haditha and Barwana.

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