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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).

11:45 17.12.2015

This just tweeted by Putin's official Twitter account regarding his comments earlier about how long Russia could continue its operation in Syria.

"We can continue the operation in Syria for a long time -- it is financed through the redistribution of budget for exercises of the Russian armed forces," the tweet quotes Putin as saying.

11:49 17.12.2015

IS militants have overrun new areas in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, which caused many people flee these areas, but still there is no sign of military action against the extremist group, RFE/RL's Afghan service is reporting.

The Afghan service also reports that an IS radio station called Radio Khelafat has begun broadcasting. Aghan officials say that this FM station is broadcasting from an area on the other side of the border.

12:05 17.12.2015

Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, has commented on Facebook about Putin's remarks this morning about Russia's military base in Syria.

Zakharova seems to think that the Americans will have difficulty in translating a Russian phrase that Putin used -- "это бабушка надвое сказала," which translates literally as "granny said ambiguously" but which means "it's anyone's guess" or "we'll just have to wait and see."

"It's interesting how the Pentagon are right now translating and analyzing Putin's words about whether a military base in Syria is needed or not -- that's anyone's guess," Zakharova wrote.

"I feel sorry for those guys, [I hope] it won't overpower them. Well, only if they start looking for a grandmother!"

12:10 17.12.2015

RIA Novosti is reporting that according to a Russian Foreign Ministry source, Jordan has sent Moscow a list of 160 organizations to be considered for inclusion in a list of terror groups during a meeting of world powers in New York about Syria tomorrow.

Russia said last month that participants in talks in Vienna on Syria had agreed that Jordan would coordinate efforts to compile a common list of terrorist groups in Syria.

12:31 17.12.2015

Turkey's Daily Sabah has tweeted a video of an attack by IS militants on the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq yesterday where Turkish forces are stationed. Four Turkish soldiers were injured in the attack.

12:38 17.12.2015

12:47 17.12.2015

More than a month after the slaying of two Syrian activists in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa, the media collective that the two men -- Ibrahim Abdelqader and his friend Fares Hamadi belonged to -- which secretly documents life in the IS stronghold of Raqqa -- has been forced into deep hiding, AP reports.

IS claimed responsibility for the murders of the two activists from the Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently group in a video message.

The group won the 2015 Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award last month.

But their members are at risk -- even those in Turkey.

The remaining members of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently -- roughly 30 people, mostly based in Syria -- are taking extraordinary precautions. Those in Turkey have changed residences and avoid encounters with contacts that have not been thoroughly vetted.

Most lack passports or the documents needed to get out of the country.

[The Committee to Protect Journalists] says it has been working to help activists and family members relocate, but Abdelqader says more can be done.

"We are being killed. We are being threatened on a daily basis by IS," he said. "What is strange to us is that no one has showed any concern -- not even the organizations that protect journalists. No state has offered us protection or offered to help protect my family. No one has given us a helping hand."

12:55 17.12.2015

Putin has commented on the new counter-terrorism coalition announced by Saudi Arabia earlier this week.

Putin said that he did not think that the coalition would have an "anti-Russian character."

12:58 17.12.2015

"For the war on terror, we have to unite all our forces, the alliance created by Saudi Arabia must act in the common interest," Putin said of the coalition against terrorism announced by Riyadh this week.

13:01 17.12.2015

Putin says that "Moscow and Riyadh have different approaches to settling the Syrian conflict in a number of areas but there are overlaps."

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