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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).

17:26 18.12.2015

Four suspects in the November 13 Paris attacks were processed as migrants on the same day, AFP reports.

Two suicide bombers who died in the Paris attacks and two men held in Austria for suspected links to the operation were all processed as migrants on the Greek island of Leros on the same day, a French source close to the probe told AFP.

The French source said that two of the three Stade de France suicide bombers were processed in Leros on the same day as two suspects arrested in a Salzburg refugee center over the weekend.

A seperate Austrian source said that the two suspects arrested in Salzburg were Algerian and Pakistani.

17:33 18.12.2015

As diplomats from over a dozen countries meet in New York right now to discuss ending the Syrian crisis and defeating the IS group, AP asks these questions that hang over the talks:

Will Assad and his foreign backers Russia and Iran agree to sit down with rebel groups they routinely denounce as "terrorists"?

And, will the rebels and their foreign backers countenance talks with a regime that has slaughtered thousands of its own citizens with barrel bombs and poison gas?

Even if a ceasefire is possible, who would monitor it? And who would lead the fight against the IS group and others, such as Al-Qaeda's Al-Nusra Front, left outside of the peace process?

17:35 18.12.2015

Syria's opposition wants a political transition without President Bashar al-Assad, Riad Hijab, the coordinator of an opposition negotiating body in future peace talks has said.

"We are going into negotiations on this principle, we are not entering talks (based on) anything else. There will be no concession," he told reporters this afternoon.

17:39 18.12.2015

NATO allies have agreed to send aircraft and ships to Turkey to strengthen Ankara's air defenses on its border with Syria, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.

The defense package is partly designed to avoid any more downings of Russian planes, Reuters notes -- although Stoltenberg did not mention Russia's military involvement in Syria. Instead, Stoltenberg said the package was in response to "the volatile situation in the region."

Turkish F-16s downed a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border on November 24 in what Russia has said was an "act of hostility." Ankara says the jet had violated Turkish airspace, a claim Russia denies.

18:03 18.12.2015

Iraq's joint operations command said 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed or wounded Friday by so-called friendly fire from US-led coalition aircraft west of Baghdad. AFP reports.

The incident happened during a strike on IS during close combat and took place at around 10:00 GMT south of the IS-held city of Fallujah where forces from Iraq's 3rd Division 55th Brigade had advanced on IS positions near Amirat al-Fallujah.

18:31 18.12.2015

Dutch daily current affairs program Nieuwsuur has posted the full video of its interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

The video is in English with Dutch subtitles.

18:37 18.12.2015

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council struggled to agree on a draft resolution endorsing an international bid to end the civil war in Syria, while separate ministerial talks began in New York today, France24 reports.

The 15-nation Security Council is scheduled to meet at 3pm ET (20:00 GMT) to discuss Syria, and it is not yet clear whether they will have a resolution to adopt.

And it now appears unlikely that the meeting will start on time.

18:39 18.12.2015

France24's Sophie Pilgrim has this from the New York Syria talks:

18:45 18.12.2015

Al-Monitor's Laura Rozen has this from the Syria talks in New York today.

20:13 18.12.2015

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