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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).

14:21 11.1.2016

Libya's National Oil Company has confirmed that it is emptying storage at the Ras Lanuf oil terminal amid concerns about violence, according to Platts.

IS militants launched attacks on Ras Lanuf and nearby Sidra last week but were pushed back by Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard militia.

14:14 11.1.2016

As lorries carrying vital humanitarian aid heads towards three Syrian cities -- Madaya, which is besieged by government forces and Foua and Kefraya, which are besieged by rebels -- Brice de la Vigne from the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC that more than 250 people in Madaya have "acute malnutrition."

Ten need immediate evacuation or would die, de la Vigne added.

13:05 11.1.2016

13:00 11.1.2016

The Guardian has more on Britain's announcement that it struck targets in the IS group's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa on January 10, using hi-tech Brimstone missiles for the first time.

A Brimstone is a “fire-and-forget” radar-guided precision weapon which can be used against moving targets, the Guardian writes.

12:58 11.1.2016

The BBC is also reporting that Red Cross aid trucks are now waiting on the road to Madaya. Entry to the town is being coordinated with the arrival of aid to the government-held Shi'ite towns of Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province, which are besieged by rebels.

12:56 11.1.2016

France has called on the Syrian government to end its siege of the town of Madaya ahead of peace talks on January 25, AFP is reporting.

12:54 11.1.2016

British jets have targeted IS militants near their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa, the UK's Ministry of Defense has said.

12:53 11.1.2016

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent tweets photos of aid convoys arriving at Madaya, Foua and Kefraya.

12:50 11.1.2016

Sara Hussein of AFP tweets that the aid operations sent today to three besieged Syrian towns have to enter the towns simultaneously.

Madaya, near Damascus, is held by rebels and besieged by government forces.

The government controlled Shi'ite towns of Foua and Kefraya are besieged by rebels including Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al-Nusra Front.

12:48 11.1.2016

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has condemned the actions of two Malaysians reportedly involved in suicide bombings in Syria and Iraq that killed more than 30 people, Channel News Asia reports.

“Their actions and ideology have no place in Malaysia or Islam, and the Government is absolutely committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms and guises, both at home and overseas,” Mr Najib wrote on his Facebook page.

The New Straits Times reported earlier today that one of the bombers, Mohd Amirul Ahmad Rahim, 26, who went under the nom de guerre Abu Uqash Malizi, detonated bombs during clashes in IS's Syrian stronghold Raqqa on December 29.

On January 3, a second Malaysian, Mohamad Syazwan Mohd Salim, 31, carried out a suicide attack at the Camp Speicher military base near Tikrit in Iraq.

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