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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).

14:57 16.12.2015

Kenyan police are holding a Kenyan woman suspected of having links to the IS group after she was deported from India, according to Kenya's The Nation news site.

Amina Mwaiz Muange had worked in the United Arab Emirates and had then accompanied her employers to India, where she was arrested.

"Earlier in the year while in Abu Dhabi, Amina had started visiting social media sites with links to IS in an attempt to find a way to go to Syria. In the course of this search she got in touch with IS supporters in India, Afghanistan, Burundi, Kenya and South Africa with whom she kept regular contact," says a government report seen by the Nation.co.ke.

15:04 16.12.2015

Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said that there have been no reports of civilian casualties as a result of the UK's air strikes against IS targets in Iraq and Syria.

15:08 16.12.2015

Russian airstrikes are systematically targeting the infrastructure of Turkoman areas of Latakia province in northwest Syria to prevent their return, Ahmet Arnavut, a senior Turkoman rebel commander who controls Turkoman forces in the Bayırbucak region, has said.

Arnavut said that the strikes had hit mosques, schools, roads and homes belonging to Turkomans, a Turkic ethnic group living in Syria.

"Within a month, Russia did what the regime could not since the beginning of the war," Arnavut told Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

"They are hitting vacant villages with bombers and helicopters. They are sending a message to Turkmen by destroying houses where no one lives - 'There is nothing left for you here. Don't think about returning'."

15:14 16.12.2015

Russia's Defense Ministry says that in the past 24 hours it has carried out 59 sorties against 212 targets in Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Hasaka and Raqqa provinces.

"The terrorists continue to suffer losses in terms of manpower and materiel," the Ministry wrote in a post on Facebook.

15:19 16.12.2015

The U.S.-led coalition against the IS group has tweeted this infographic explaining its strikes against IS targets between December 8-14.

15:26 16.12.2015

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said that it was unacceptable that the majority of Russian air strikes in Syria continue to target opposition forces rather than IS militants, Reuters reports.

"It is unacceptable that Russian action is weakening the opposition and thus giving advantage to the very [IS] forces that they claim to be engaged against," Hammond said.

15:27 16.12.2015

Italy is to send a detachment of around 500 soldiers to defend Iraq’s largest dam, a year after it was recaptured from IS militants by Kurdish forces backed by U.S. air strikes, The Telegraph reports.

The troops will provide security for an Italian firm that has been awarded the contract to repair the Mosul dam, which is around 40 miles north of the IS-controlled city of Mosul.

15:40 16.12.2015

Sweden has said that it will send a transport plane and logistical support to Mali and other parts of Africa to free up French forces stationed there and let them join the fight against the IS group, Reuters reports.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom told reporters France had not asked Sweden directly for air surveillance support.

"What they immediately ... named was what is called 'back fill' - that is you add to support, mainly in Africa: the Central African Republic, Mali because it frees up soldiers and resources for them."

15:48 16.12.2015

The U.S.-led coalition against IS in Syria and Iraq has posted this update to Facebook about the latest military strikes against the extremists.

16:15 16.12.2015

Russia Publishes 'The Terrible Tale Of IS'

Girls who stop wearing short skirts and boys who refuse to wear ties could be under the influence of IS recruiters, according to a new anti-radicalization guidebook for parents published in Russia.

The guidebook is titled "The Terrible Tale Of IS" and is designed to help students and their parents resist the influence of IS recruiters, Interfax reports.

A joint project of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and the CIS Antiterrorism Center, the guidebook contains helpful hints for parents on how to spot whether their child has become radicalized, according to Elena Sutormina of the Civic Chamber.

Parents are advised to watch for changes in their teens' clothing style.

Girls who suddenly stop wearing short skirts and low-cut tops and boys who stop wearing ties and start showing a penchant for darker clothing could be influenced by radical Islam, the guidebook warns.

Sutormina also advises parents to watch out for teenagers who suddenly start to study or even quote from the Quran or who become more detached and withdrawn.

A lot of new converts are former atheists who were "disappointed with that lifestyle," Sutormina added.

"There is a romantic story, you need Allah, you are the chosen one... but it's just business,they need human resources."

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