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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).

15:09 11.1.2016

Here is Russia's Defense Ministry's tweet saying that Russian air strikes hit 1,097 "terrorist" targets since the start of 2016 and including a photo of ministry official Sergei Rudskoi.

15:06 11.1.2016

Russian Defense Ministry official Sergei Rudskoi has said that militants are being supplied with weapons and equipment from Turkey and that new recruits are regularly transferring across from Turkey to the northeastern part of Syria's Latakia province.

Speaking on the Rossiya 24 channel today, Rudskoi said that Syrian government forces had succeeded in inflicting losses on militants in Latakia province.

Turkey has accused Russia of targeting ethnic Turkoman militants in Latakia. Russian speaking militants from the North Caucasus are also based in the province near the border with Turkey.

15:00 11.1.2016

Russian Defense Ministry official Sergei Rudskoi says that in the first ten days of 2016, Russia has carried out 311 sorties and hit 1,097 oil infrastructure, refining and production targets, military equipment and militants in Syria.

The sorties hit targets in Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Deir al-Zor, Hasakah, Raqqa and Dara'a provinces, according to Rudskoi.

14:56 11.1.2016

Russian Defense Ministry official Sergei Rudskoi has said that Russian air strikes have inflicted heavy losses on "terrorists" in Syria both in terms of manpower and equipment, RIA Novosti is reporting.

Rudskoi said that the Russian air strikes are allowing the Syrian army and the "patriotic opposition" to continue with operations despite difficult weather conditions caused by heavy rains and low temperatures.

14:40 11.1.2016

The casualty rate from the Syrian town of Anjara, which a monitoring group says was hit by a Russian air strike this morning, has increased.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that at least 12 children and three adults -- including the children's teacher -- were killed in the strike this morning.

14:33 11.1.2016

A camp for migrants in Calais, France may be a refuge for returning militants to "hide in plain sight" before "smuggling themselves" into the UK, a former British head of police counter-terrorism has told the BBC.

Kevin Hurley said the camp was "completely un-policed."

But Care4Calais, a UK charity that helps migrants in the camp, slammed the remarks.

However, the founder of Care4Calais, a UK charity set up to help migrants staying in the camp, dismissed the claims as "the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard."

Clare Moseley said: "You would have to be the world's stupidest terrorist to try and enter Britain as a refugee, because when you come as a refugee you are subject to detailed background checks."

14:29 11.1.2016

Journalist Daniele Raineri tweets this image of Italian military personnel in Misrata, Libya to evacuate some of those injured in last week's truck bombing by IS in Zliten.

14:27 11.1.2016

Libya's Alwasat News is also reporting that air strikes by unidentified planes have hit IS targets near Sirte and Bin Jawad.

Sirte is under IS control.

IS overran Bin Jawad in an attack last week.

14:26 11.1.2016

Christopher Johnson of Reuters has tweeted this helpful map showing the locations of Libya's oil fields and of last week's attacks by the IS group.

14:24 11.1.2016

Italy has evacuated 15 Libyans wounded in a truck bombing by the IS group last week in Zliten, the Italian government has said.

IS militants claimed responsibility for the bombing, which killed at least 47 people and wounded over 100 more.

Italy said in a statement that it sent a C-130 transport plane at dawn today to the city of Misrata to take the wounded to a military hospital in Rome.

"This operation is a concrete gesture of solidarity and attention by Italy for the Libyan people at a particularly delicate moment for the stabilisation of the country," the statement said.

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