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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).

17:33 12.1.2016

Jews in the French city of Marseilles are warned against wearing skullcaps after an attack on a Jewish teacher yesterday, AFP reports.

The teacher, 35, sustained light injuries after a teenage assailant attacked him in what police called an "antisemitic act."

The teenager said that the attack was "for the Islamic State group," the prosecutor in Marseilles said.

17:37 12.1.2016

Aid workers who reached a besieged Syrian town spoke of "heartbreaking" conditions being endured by emaciated and starving residents, with hundreds in need of special medical help, Reuters report.

"It's really heartbreaking to see the situation of the people," said Pawel Krzysiek of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"A while ago I was just approached by a little girl and her first question was did you bring food ... we are really hungry."

17:41 12.1.2016

Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition against the IS group blew up a warehouse in Iraq where the Islamic State had stored millions of dollars in cash, the U.S. military has said.

Coalition aircraft targeted a "cash distribution center" near IS-controlled Mosul.

17:48 12.1.2016

A court in Istanbul has imposed a ban on reporting the investigation into this morning's attack in the city, including “all kinds of news, interviews, criticism and similar publications in print, visual, social media and all kinds of media on the Internet," Hurriyet is reporting.

The move comes after the Turkish Prime Minister's Office announced a temporary gag order into reporting on the attack this morning.

17:52 12.1.2016

Syrian state television is reporting that Syrian government forces "took full control" over the rebel stronghold of Salma in Latakia province.

18:43 12.1.2016

British Prime Minister David Cameron has admitted that "there aren't enough" moderate rebels in Syria to defeat the IS group and said that some rebels belong to "relatively hardline Islamist groups."

The Independent quoted Cameron as saying:

"Are all of these people impeccable democrats who would share the view of democracy that you and I have? No, some of them do belong to Islamist groups and some of them belong to relatively hardline Islamist groups but nonetheless that’s the best estimate of the people that we have potentially to work with.

“The reason for not breaking down in huge amounts of granular detail exactly who they are is simply this: we’d be effectively be giving President Assad a sort of list of the groups of the people and potentially the areas that he should be targeting and that’s not my approach.”

18:46 12.1.2016

Nearly one-in-ten Turks do not regard the IS group as a terrorist organization, and more than five percent agree with their actions, according to a new survey published today.

The data was released on the same day as a suspected suicide bombing in Istanbul's tourist district which killed at least 10 people.

22:41 12.1.2016

This concludes our live blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State for January 12. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.

10:09 13.1.2016

The United Nations is looking into whether the man-made humanitarian calamity inside the besieged Syrian town of Madaya is a war crime or a crime against humanity.

Madaya is a rebel-controlled town but has been under siege by Syrian government forces who have surrounded the city since July.

10:10 13.1.2016

Australia has formally declined a request by the United States to increase its military commitment in the Middle East, ABC News is reporting this morning.

"The US has asked 40 or so other countries, including European countries, to consider expanded contributions to the coalition, following the attacks in Paris," a spokesman for Defense Minister Marise Payne said.

"Australia has considered the request from US Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, in light of the substantial contributions we are already making to train Iraqi security forces and to the air campaign.

"The Government has advised Secretary Carter that our existing contributions will continue."

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