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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).

15:16 11.12.2015

RFE/RL's Golnaz Esfandiari tweets a report that at least 11 Iranians have been killed fighting in Syria in recent days.

Iranian fighters have been fighting alongside Syrian government troops in Syria.

The number of Iranian fighters dying in Syria has reportedly increased in recent weeks.

15:20 11.12.2015

Turkey's Daily Sabah tweets these comments from Turkish President Erdogan regarding the spat with Baghdad over Turkish troop deployment to northern Iraq.

15:23 11.12.2015

Today's Zaman has more on this afternoon's comments from Turkish President Erdogan regarding Turkish troop deployment to northern Iraq.

Erdogan said that Turkey will not withdraw its troops from a camp close to the IS-controlled city of Mosul.

The Turkish president said the deployed troops are not combat soldiers but have been deployed to protect soldiers who are training Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

15:26 11.12.2015

More developments in the spat between Turkey and Iraq over Turkish troop deployment in northern Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has asked his Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal complaint with the UN Security Council regarding Turkey's troop deployments in northern Iraq, Reuters report.

Abadi said in a statement on his website that he has asked that the Security Council order Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately.

15:43 11.12.2015

The Turkey-Syria border must be closed immediately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Lavrov hinted at Russia's ongoing accusations that Turkey is assisting the IS group by providing it with a transit point for weapons, recruits and oil. Turkey has denied the allegations, calling them "slanderous."

"The international community cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that somene is playing the role of IS's accomplice, and providing the terrorists with... weapons, transit services, and having commercial transactions with them. We insist that all this must be stopped," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti.

15:54 11.12.2015

Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh highlights one of the more colorful exchanges around this week's conference of Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, between Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi.

Jubeir said on December 10 that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had two choices: either to stand down or be forcibly removed.

Zoubi in Damascus reacted furiously to Jubeir's comments, calling them a "farce."

"You are too insignificant to talk about matters related to the Syrian people and Syrian state, I advise you to take care of issues your own size," Zoubi said.

16:00 11.12.2015

One of the Paris attackers was a French Army reject, Reuters reports.

Foued Mohamed-Aggad was rejected by the French Army and possibly also by the police before joining the IS group.

Army recruiters in Strasbourg turned Mohamed-Aggad down after conducting physical and psychological tests.

16:05 11.12.2015

Two-thirds of Russians support the ban on Turkish fruit and vegetable imports, saying the sanctions are a "punishment" for Turkey for its downing of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border, Interfax reports.

16:07 11.12.2015

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that there are some problems still to be solved in a pact made between Syrian opposition forces yesterday if peace talks with the Syrian government are to be resumed next week.

Kerry said that there are "some questions and obviously a couple of, in our judgement, kinks to be worked out."

16:08 11.12.2015

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