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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).

11:00 14.12.2015

Russia is prepared to cooperate with any country over Syria, Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov has said, TASS is reporting.

Gerasimov said that there are examples of cooperation between the West and Russia in recent history including over dealing with Syria's chemical weapons and talks over the Iranian nuclear program.

11:08 14.12.2015

Russia has reiterated its claims that it is supporting the Free Syrian Army in Syria.

But are these claims true and if so which groups is Russia supporting?

Thomas Pierret, a Syria specialist from the University of Edinburgh, tells RFE/RL that the claims by Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov are not true.

Russia is helping Arab auxiliaries of the Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Pierret says.

"They don't fight Assad so they're not 'opposition' or 'FSA'," Pierret told RFE/RL.

The SDF was formed in October and includes the Kurdish YPG and Syrian Arab groups, as well as Assyrians, Armenian and Turkoman militias.

11:16 14.12.2015

The BBC has more on the reports earlier this morning that a teacher had been attacked in Paris by a man citing the IS group.

Police sources told the BBC that the teacher was stabbed in the side and throat at 07.30 GMT this morning as he was in his classroom preparing for lessons in Aubervilliers, a Paris suburb. The teacher's life is not in danger.

The attacker who reportedly wore a balaclava and gloves shouted, "It's Daesh (IS), it's a warning," before stabbing the teacher with box cutters or scissors. The man is still on the run.

11:19 14.12.2015

An Australian teenager has pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Children's Court to preparing for a terrorist act.

Police seized a computer from the boy's home in May which contained encrypted documents entitled "Pressure Cooker Backpack Bomb with Switch Detonator" and "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

11:28 14.12.2015

The Kremlin has given an initial response to Egypt's announcement this morning that its preliminary report into the Russian passenger plane crash that killed all 224 people on board had not found any signs of terrorism.

"The only thing [I can say] is to note the conclusion of our experts from our respective intelligence services, who concluded that this was a terrorist act," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this morning.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the October 31 crash of the Russian flight A321 over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, saying that it had placed a bomb on board.

11:28 14.12.2015

The Kremlin has given an initial response to Egypt's announcement this morning that its preliminary report into the Russian passenger plane crash that killed all 224 people on board had not found any signs of terrorism.

"The only thing [I can say] is to note the conclusion of our experts from our respective intelligence services, who concluded that this was a terrorist act," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this morning.

The IS group claimed responsibility for the October 31 crash of the Russian flight A321 over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, saying that it had placed a bomb on board.

11:35 14.12.2015

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also said that Russia is supporting the Free Syrian Army against IS.

"Indeed, there are some forces of this Free Syrian Army, they are participating in offensives against IS and other extremist groups. These offensives are also supported by the Russian armed forces," Peskov told reporters in response to questions about comments made by Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov this morning.

11:52 14.12.2015

Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, has said Ankara's efforts to calm tensions following its downing of a Russian fighter jet would not bear any fruit unless Turkey apologizes for shooting down the jet, punishes those who are responsible, and agrees to pay damages, Today's Zaman reports.

“Unless these expectations of ours are met, other statements made by Turkey [to appease the tension] will not yield any results,” Karlov told the Cumhuriyet daily today.

12:25 14.12.2015

Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the investigation committee into the crash of the Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, has said that the committee has studied information on the pilots, the technical condition and previous flight routes of the plane, RIA Novosti reports.

Egyptian officials said they filed a preliminary report this morning that found no signs that a bomb caused the tragedy.

The IS group claimed responsibility for downing the Russian plane, saying it had planted a bomb on board.

12:51 14.12.2015

TASS has more on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments to reporters this morning regarding the announcement by Egypt that a preliminary report into the downing of a Russian passenger jet had found no signs of terrorism.

Peskov said that the Kremlin could not comment on the report, TASS said.

TASS also noted that the head of Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) had said that the downing of the plane was a terrorist act.

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