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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).

14:59 13.1.2016

The SITE Intelligence group tweeted this about IS's claims of responsibility for a suicide attack against the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad.

14:58 13.1.2016

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack targeting the Pakistani consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

The attack was followed by a deadly gun battle that lasted several hours, Reuters report.

Afghan officials said all three attackers and at least seven members of the security forces died during the attack by the radical Islamist movement which has so far avoided striking high-profile Pakistani targets.

14:48 13.1.2016

More from Istanbul, where people are paying tribute to the victims of yesterday's suicide bombing.

14:46 13.1.2016

Libyan political analyst Aissa Abdelgayum has told Libya's Channel that the fight against the IS group in Libya needs to be taken more seriously and that IS is trying to disrupt the country's supply lines.

14:44 13.1.2016

Arish Said, the head of Libya's internationally-recognized government’s media department, has also commented on the aftermath of the attacks by the IS group on Libya's oil port of Sidra last week.

On January 5, Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) pushed IS militants back into Wadi Kahila following IS's attempt to overrun Sidra, an area a few kilometers southwest of Sidra and some 500km east of Tripoli.

But according to Arish, the PFG were not able to follow IS further into Wadi Kahila because of a lack of military support.

Civilians in Wadi Kahila are fighting the IS group because they fear what will happen if IS takes over there, Arish added.

14:39 13.1.2016

The IS group in Libya arrested 120 civilians in the town of Bin Jawad last week, according to Arish Said, head of Libya's internationally-recognized government’s media department.

Those arrested had worked for Libyan security agencies and the Petroleum Facilities Guard, the militia charged with protecting Libya's national oil interests.

Said said that he could not confirm reports that IS has beheaded five of those it arrested.

IS overran Bin Jawad earlier this month.

13:27 13.1.2016

Russia intends to clarify all of the circumstances around the detention in Turkey of three Russian nationals, and also information that the arrested men have refused to speak with Russian officials, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told TASS.

13:19 13.1.2016

13:13 13.1.2016

Germany's Foreign Ministry has said that 10 Germans were killed in yesterday's suicide bombing in Istanbul.

13:11 13.1.2016

In Libya, the death toll from last week's IS truck suicide bombing of a police training center in Zliten has reached 60. Some 125 people were injured.

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