Accessibility links

Breaking News
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).

15:32 6.1.2016

Libya's National Oil Corporation has also issued a statement on its website condemning the attacks by the IS group on Sidra and Ras Lanuf in the country's oil crescent on January 4 and 5.

The National Oil Corporation, Tripoli, represented by its board of directors and on behalf of its affiliates and employees:

Condemns, in the strongest terms, the vicious attacks on the oil crescent area over the last two days and deplores the loss of life and the damage caused to tanks at Ras Lanuf and Es Sidar. Mourns the loss of life, wishes a speedy recovery to those who have been wounded and commends the efforts made to repel the attack and the efforts of the fire fighters.

Reaffirms its independency and impartiality as well as its determination to preserve the resources and assets of our country for the benefit of all the people of Libya.

Calls on all political and military entities in Libya to put aside their differences and unite against this common enemy. Calls also upon the citizens of Libya to do their utmost to protect their patrimony and to unite to repel the aggression.

Urges the swift formation of a national unity government and the establishment of a unified force structure capable of bringing peace and protecting Libya’s natural resources.

15:43 6.1.2016

The U.S. Department of Defense has published details of the U.S.-led coalition's latest strikes against the IS group in Iraq and Syria.

There was one strike in Syria, on an IS headquarters near the group's stronghold of Raqqa.

There were 19 strikes in Iraq including near Haditha, where there have been heavy clashes between IS and Iraqi security and tribal forces over the past three days. Eight strikes were carried out near Ramadi, where Iraqi forces have been clearing out IS militants after retaking the city center.

15:47 6.1.2016

Back in Libya, Petroleum Facilities Guard fighters injured in clashes with IS militants near Sidra in Libya's oil crescent have been transferred to Misrata for medical treatment. The photos show them arriving in Misrata.

The Libya Observer tweeted this image earlier showing a list of 18 Petroleum Facilities Guard fighters injured in the clashes at Sidra on January 5.

15:52 6.1.2016

At least 20 Syrian rebel commanders -- mostly hardline Islamists -- have died in targeted killings in Syria since December, according to activists, AFP reports.

No armed group has taken responsibility for the assassinations, whose targets include seven leading officers in Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate the Al Nusra Front. The most recent killing occurred today in Homs province: Abu Rateb al-Homsi, a local commander with the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group was killed.

According to Thomas Pierret, a Syria specialist at the University of Edinburgh, "the regime and its allies are by far the main suspects" in the killings.

"One of the components of the counter-insurgency strategy implemented by Russia since September is the decapitation of the insurgent leadership," he added.

With help from their Russian ally, intelligence services in Damascus have been able to gather better information on senior rebel figures, Pierret said.

15:56 6.1.2016

More news of the aftermath of the deadly clashes between IS and Petroleum Facilities Guard fighters in Sidra -- as fears remain that IS is regrouping for another assault.

16:13 6.1.2016

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren tweets that Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) are carrying out clearance operations to the east of Ramadi's city center and are encountering booby traps and pockets of resistance from IS militants remaining in the city.

The U.S.-led coalition is providing close air support for the operation.

16:15 6.1.2016

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition, has also commented in his press briefing today about the recent heavy clashes by IS militants near Haditha in Iraq's Anbar province.

Warren says that Iraqi Security Forces have repelled or regrouped and counterattacked against all IS advances near Haditha.

16:17 6.1.2016

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren -- spokesman for the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition -- has also commented on Operation Tidal Wave, the operation to target IS-controlled oil installations, which the group is using as a source of funding.

16:29 6.1.2016

The spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS says that around 2,500 IS militants were killed in U.S.-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria in December.

16:31 6.1.2016

In the Iraqi city of Ramadi, recently retaken from the IS group, Sunni tribal fighters and local police will take over security duties from the Iraqi army and counter terrorism service, the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition says.

Load more

XS
SM
MD
LG