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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).

14:56 16.2.2016

Pro-opposition news site DeirEzzor24, which reports news from the Syria's Deir al-Zor province, has tweeted this image that they claim shows an unexploded Russian rocket that was fired days ago in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor.

14:42 16.2.2016

German aircraft in Syria 'regularly shadowed' by Russia

German military aircraft flying missions over Syria are being regularly shadowed by Russian fighters, according to a senior commander in the country's air force, The Telegraph reports.

The Russian shadow flights were “primarily a political demonstration,” said Lr-Gen Joachim Wundrak.

German planes are not taking part in combat missions but are carrying out reconnaissance flights to help the U.S.-led coalition target air strikes against IS.

13:55 16.2.2016

Turkey seeks allies' support for ground operation in Syria

Turkey is asking allies including the United States to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria, Reuters reports.

The move comes amid a Russian-backed Syrian government advance in northern Syria near the Turkey borders, which as Reuters notes, "raises the possibility of direct confrontation between the NATO member and Russia."

A large-scale joint ground operation is still unlikely: Washington has ruled out a major offensive. But the request shows how swiftly a Russian-backed advance in recent weeks has transformed a conflict that has drawn in most regional and global powers.

12:38 16.2.2016

No proof from West that Russian airstrikes cause civilian casualties: Moscow

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has added her voice to Moscow's denials that its air campaign in Syria is causing civilian casualties.

Zakharova called the accusations "unsubstantiated" and hinted that the criticisms were part of a Western propaganda campaign to discredit Russia.

"Who is saying all this?" Zakharova asked of the accusations of civilian deaths.

"This is being said by Western officials: the [U.S.] State Department, the [British] Foreign Office, the French Foreign Ministry and so on. You are officials, you are official structures, so please, give us official information: any data that would confirm what you say are deliberate mass civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure. For all this time, they have never once presented us with any data: no images, no numbers."

Zakharova went on:

"Once -- and this was not very long ago -- our Western colleagues said that now they have proof that we're not acting right in Syria. And during one expert level meeting they brought photos and showed them. And when the Russian diplomat asked for the photographs to be given to him, so he could take a look, they said, 'Only from our hands.' Have you ever seen anything like this?"

And what about the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria that has been ongoing for years now, Zakharova asked.

"The international community and global media only now found out about the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria? They didn't realize for four and more years that there are children in Syria who are suffering from a massive internal confrontation, wars that are going on there? They didn't say a word about this, they just sent weapons there, money and they sponsored the so called moderate opposition that was supposed to topple Assad," Zakharova said.

"No one thought of the children."

12:16 16.2.2016

Turkish PM slams Russian complaint to UN over Syria shelling

The war of words between Turkey and Russia over Syria goes on with no "cessation of hostilities" in sight...

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stepped up his criticism of Russia, Today's Zaman writes, dubbing "shameless" Moscow's move to complain to the UN Security Council about Turkish shelling of Syrian Kurdish militias.

"Russia bombs hospitals, schools. Then it complains to the UN because Turkey takes measures for its border security. What a shameless attitude!" Davutoglu said in a speech to deputies of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) this morning..

"They [US and Europeans] don’t say it openly. Who is carrying out these bombardments? The disgraceful Russian planes are."

12:03 16.2.2016

Doctors Without Borders just tweeted this about attacks on hospitals in northern Syria this year.

11:57 16.2.2016

Turks Fear Kurds, Regime Plan to Empty Northern Aleppo of Sunnis (VOA)

Turkish officials fear that Syrian government forces, along with Kurdish fighters, will advance to the border town of Azaz as part of a plan to trigger a new, destabilizing, refugee wave, VOA reports.

11:26 16.2.2016

Turkey says favors Syria ground operation with its allies (AFP)

Turkey is in favor of a ground operation in Syria but only with its allies, a senior Turkish official has said, AFP report.

"We want a ground operation with our international allies," the official told reporters in Istanbul.

"There is not going to be a unilateral military operation from Turkey to Syria," the official said, but added: "Without a ground operation it is impossible to stop the fighting in Syria."

10:50 16.2.2016

Turkey renews shelling of YPG targets for fourth day

Тurkish news site Today's Zaman reports on Turkey's shelling today of Syrian Kurdish YPG militias in northern Syria, the fourth consecutive day that Turkish forces have done so.

The Turkish military hit Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) positions in Syria for a fourth day after an attack in Turkey's Kilis province from the Kurdish region in Syria on Tuesday morning, a Turkish news agency reported.

According to the Doğan news agency, Turkish artillery units situated in the southeastern province of Kilis' Akçabağlar town fired retaliation shots at Kurdish targets at around 10 a.m. after fire opened from the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD)-controlled region in Syria.

10:10 16.2.2016

Kremlin denies accusations that it carried out strikes on Syria hospitals

As predicted, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected allegations that Russian planes carried out airstrikes yesterday that destroyed a hospital in northern Syria.

Peskov said that Moscow would not accept the accusations which were groundless and did not come with evidence or proof.

"No, once again we categorically reject and do not accept these statements. Moreover, on each occasion those who make these statements are unable to somehow prove their groundless allegations," Peskov said.

Peskov said that reporters needed to go to the primary source -- meaning the source of information about the incidents in Syria.

"And for us in this case the primary source is the statements of official representatives of the Syrian government," Peskov added.

"In this case, Syrian officials have today made statements on this matter, where they gave their position on who could be responsible for these bombings."

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