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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).

11:52 19.2.2016

WFP delivers food to besieged city of Moadamiya

11:49 19.2.2016

Aircraft strike IS militants in Libya's Sabratha city, 40 killed

Strikes against Islamic State mittens in Sabratha, Libya have killed at least 30 people, the BBC are reporting.

The New York Times newspaper cited an anonymous official as saying that US planes had carried out the strikes.

According to the New York Times, the target with a top Tunisian jihadist link to two terror attacks last year.

11:45 19.2.2016

Kurdish forces push back IS in northeastern Syria: SOHR

Kurdish-led forces backed by international airstrikes have advanced to within five kilometers of the IS stronghold of Al-Shadadi in Syria's Hasakah province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The advance comes on the third day of a major offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.

The SDF have also taken the Kibabeh oil field northeast of Al-Shadadi, after heavy fighting backed by U.S.-led air strikes.

10:47 19.2.2016

Putin, Saudi king discuss Syria peace process: RIA

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud have discussed the Syria crisis in a telephone call, RIA Novosti reports.

"A mutual intention was expressed to further increase Russian-Saudi cooperation in all areas. An interest was shown in resolving the crisis in Syria and ensuring stability and security in the entire region of the Middle East and North Africa," the Kremlin press service said in a statement.


10:44 19.2.2016

Syria envoy says peace talks won't resume next week

UN special envoy for Syrian Staffan de Mistura has said that peace talks will not resume next week in Geneva as he had hoped, AP report.

The talks were set to restart on Feb. 25.

De Mistura told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that he cannot "realistically" get the parties in the Syrian conflict back to the table by then, "but we intend to do so soon."

10:24 19.2.2016

Turkish military hits Kurdish targets in northern Syria with missiles: Dogan

Turkey has stepped up its attacks on Syrian Kurdish militia positions in northern Syria, the Dogan news agency is reporting.

Whereas previously the Turkish military has fired only artillery shells at YPG positions near Azaz, now it has used Stinger and I-HAWK missiles.

10:20 19.2.2016

U.S., Russia hold talks on Syria ahead of UN meeting: Reuters

U.S. and Russian military officials have held a meeting in Geneva ahead of a wider UN meeting this afternoon aimed at securing a cessation of hostilities in Syria, diplomats have said, according to Reuters.

The unannounced bilateral meeting was aimed at narrowing positions before the two powers jointly chair a United Nations meeting on the issue, they said, declining to give details.

10:00 19.2.2016

Turkey continuing cross-border shelling against Syrian Kurds: Anadolu

An agreed-upon "cessation of hostilities" is set to start today -- amid reports of ongoing fighting.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported late Feb. 18 that the Turkish military is continuing with its cross-border artillery shelling campaign against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia positions in northern Syria.

Anadolu said that the military was conducting intermittent artillery fire against YPG positions near the border town of Azaz.

09:51 19.2.2016

No alternative to political solution in Syria: Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Moscow is proceeding on the basis that there is no alternative to a political solution to the crisis in Syria, RIA Novosti is reporting.

"Everyone, including the President [Putin] is proceeding [on the basis of] the lack of an alternative to a political solution to this problem," Peskov told reporters at his daily press briefing this morning.

Peskov added that everyone, including Russia, wanted to preserve Syria's territorial integrity.

19:42 18.2.2016

That concludes our live-blogging of the crisis surrounding Islamic State. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.

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