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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 24.11.2015

Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, says it is too early to talk about any possible consequences for Russian-Turkish relations as a result of today's shooting down of a Russian jet.

"It would be wrong to make any sort of assessments, assumptions and draw any conclusions until we have a complete picture," Peskov told journalists, according to TASS.

"We just need to be patient, this is a very serious incident, but again, without the full information it is not possible to say anything and it would be wrong [to do so]."

11:47 24.11.2015

TASS is also reporting that the Kremlin does not know whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's planned visit to Istanbul tomorrow will be amended.

When journalists asked Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov about whether the meeting would be changed, he told them to "telephone the Foreign Ministry."

11:55 24.11.2015

Nikolai Levichev, the Deputy Speaker of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, has called on Russia's air transport chief Alexander Neradko, to consider a complete cessation of air links between Russia and Turkey in response to the high risk of terror theats for Russian planes.

Levichev is from the center-left Fair Russia party.

His call comes after IS claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger jet in Sinai last month, as well as after today's downing of a Russian war plane in Syria, apparently by the Turkish military.

12:01 24.11.2015

AP has a statement from the 10th Brigade in the Coast rebel group that claims to have captured a Russian pilot whose plane was shot down over Latakia province in northwestern Syria has said the pilot was dead on landing.

Jahed Ahmad, a spokesman for the group told AP that two Russian pilots tried to land in parachutes in Syrian government-held areas in Latakia but were shot at by members of the 10th Brigade in the Coast group.

Gunmen from the group shot one of the pilots, who landed dead. The group has released a video of gunmen standing around a blond man who appeared dead.

12:08 24.11.2015

NATO has called an "extraordinary meeting" following Turkey's claim that it downed a Russian jet this morning, AFP is reporting.

"At the request of Turkey, the North Atlantic Council will hold an extraordinary meeting at 16:00 GMT. The aim of this extraordinary NAC is for Turkey to inform Allies about the downing of a Russian airplane," an alliance official told AFP.

12:12 24.11.2015

Britain says the downing of the Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border by Turkey was "a very serious incident," Reuters is reporting.

"A Russian air force jet was shot down near the Turkish-Syrian border this morning. We are seeking further details urgently," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"Clearly this is a very serious incident but it would be unwise to comment further until we have more certainty on the facts."

12:16 24.11.2015

More developments from Turkey via AFP.

12:29 24.11.2015

This item's just in from RFE/RL's Georgian Service:

TBILISI -- Georgia has launched an investigation into an Islamic State video purportedly showing Georgian-speaking men fighting alongside IS militants in Syria.

The State Security Service announced the probe on November 23, a day after the twelve-and-a half-minute-long video circulated on the Internet. In the recording, four Georgian-speaking men, holding AK-47 rifles and an RPG grenade launcher, call on Muslims in Georgia to join the "Caliphate."

The men slammed Muslim clerics in Georgia's Muslim-populated region of Ajara and threatened to behead "infidels" in Georgia.

Georgian media identified the men as former residents of Ajara, which is located in the southwestern corner of Georgia on the Black Sea.

Georgian officials have said that dozens of Georgian nationals have joined Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq.

Among them is Tarkhan Batirashvili, also known as Umar al-Shishani, a notorious battlefield commander in northern Syria.

12:57 24.11.2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is "reviewing everything that happened with its plane in Syria," RIA Novosti has just reported.

13:00 24.11.2015

RFE/RL's Radio Svoboda is reporting that Putin has said the downing of the Su-24 will have "tragic consequences for Russian-Turkey relations."

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