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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).

11:21 13.1.2016

Turkey's interior Minister Efkan Ala is holding a joint press conference with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere in Istanbul.

Ala says that nine of those wounded in yesterday's suicide bombing in Istanbul are Germans. Two are in critical condition.

11:12 13.1.2016

Russia's Foreign Ministry has reacted to remarks made yesterday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow was seeking to create a "boutique state" in Syria's Latakia province.

A source in the Foreign Ministry said that the remarks were "utter nonsense."

Russia had for years insisted that "Syria should be a sovereign, democratic, secular and integrated state," the source added.

11:04 13.1.2016

Turkey is investigating how a militant from Syria managed to carry out a suicide attack killing mainly German tourists yesterday.

The Daily Sabah newspaper said that the bomber, identified as 28-year-old Nabil Fadli, entered Turkey as a refugee on January 5. He was fingerprinted by the Turkish migration service, which is apparently why the authorities were able to identify him so soon after the attack.

10:59 13.1.2016

The Daily Telegraph's Louisa Loveluck says her contact in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya has said that people there are scared that hunger will return soon.

10:33 13.1.2016

The Denmark-based Risk Intelligence group estimates that last week's attacks by the IS group on Libya's oil terminals destroyed over $1 billion of infrastructure and oil.

10:32 13.1.2016

Ibrahim Jadhran, the leader of Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) militia, which repelled attacks last week by the IS group on oil ports including Sidra and Ras Lanuf, has said that huge damage has been inflicted on the country's oil infrastructure.

Jadhran also called for support for the PFG, saying that only his forces are present in the oil crescent.

10:32 13.1.2016

Ibrahim Jadhran, the leader of Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) militia, which repelled attacks last week by the IS group on oil ports including Sidra and Ras Lanuf, has said that huge damage has been inflicted on the country's oil infrastructure.

Jadhran also called for support for the PFG, saying that only his forces are present in the oil crescent.

10:27 13.1.2016

Belgian police have found two apartments and a house used by suspects before they carried out the terror attacks in Paris, according to prosecutors, AFP is reporting.

The properties included an apartment in the city of Charleroi, where investigators found fingerprints of suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud; an apartment in Schaerbeek, Brussels and a small house in the rural village of Auvelais on the French border.

All the accommodation was rented using false names.

10:24 13.1.2016

Russia's RIA Novosti is reporting that the Russian Consulate General in Antalya has confirmed the arrest of three Russian nationals.

Turkish media is reporting that the three were arrested in connection with alleged links to the IS group following the deadly attack yesterday in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district.

10:21 13.1.2016

A suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people in a mosque in northern Cameroon, in the latest attack by the Boko Haram group.

The Nigerian-based Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger since last year. The group seeks to create an Islamic state in north eastern Nigeria.

"The suicide attack took place at 5:40 a.m. (2340 ET) in a mosque at Kouyape. There were 13 deaths including the man who blew himself up and one wounded," said a senior local official who declined to be identified.

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