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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).

14:34 24.11.2015

A Turkmen official in Syria has said that his forces shot dead both Russian pilots as they parachuted to the ground after ejecting from their downed Su-24 jet.

Earlier today, a Syrian rebel group claimed that its gunmen had shot dead one of the pilots. The fate of the other pilot was unknown.

This claim is not yet verified.

14:40 24.11.2015

Federica Mogherini, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has tweeted that she talked with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this morning in the wake of the downing of the Russian Su-24 jet by Turkey.

14:43 24.11.2015

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has just announced he has canceled his visit to Turkey tomorrow, November 25, in the wake of this morning's downing of a Russian Su-24 jet.

14:47 24.11.2015

More on the claims by Turkmen rebels that they shot dead both Russian pilots from the downed Su-24 jet.

Turkmen Deputy Commander to the 2nd Coast Division Alpaslan Çelik told Turkey's Dogan news agency that both pilots were killed.

"We shot the pilots while they were landing with parachutes. Their bodies are here," Çelik said.

14:50 24.11.2015

Turkey's Hurriyet News has posted a video that alleges to show the killing of the two Russian pilots from the downed Su-24 jet.

Turkmen rebels claim that they shot dead both of the pilots as they parachuted out of the downed plane.

Gunfire can be heard throughout the video. A man shouts in Turkish, asking gunmen not to shoot, because the pilots are potential hostages.

"Don't shoot! A hostage is coming, a hostage," the man shouts according to Hurriyet.

The authenticity of the video has not been independently confirmed.

14:55 24.11.2015

Returning to the aftermath of the November 13 attacks in Paris, CBS's White House correspondent has tweeted photos of the arrival in the United States of French President Hollande.

Hollande is set to meet U.S. President Obama as part of a push for increased efforts to combat IS.

14:57 24.11.2015

This just in from AFP...

15:02 24.11.2015

BBC Monitoring have some information about Syria's Turkmen, after a Turkmen rebel group claimed to have shot dead two Russian pilots who ejected from their downed Su-24 jet this morning.

The Turkmen are ethnic Turks who under Bashar al-Assad's government were banned from publishing or writing in Turkish.

The Syrian Turkmen Brigades are about 10,000 strong and are one of the main Turkish-trained Turkmen opposition groups operating in the area where the Russian plane crashed, according to BBC Monitoring.

15:05 24.11.2015

WATCH: Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the downing of a Russian SU-24 military jet as a "stab in the back by terrorists' accomplices." Putin was speaking during a visit to Jordan. (AP)

Putin Calls Downing Of Russian Jet 'A Stab In The Back'
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15:17 24.11.2015

Pro-Kremlin sources on Facebook are claiming that one of the Russian pilots killed following the downing of the Russian Su-24 jet was Major Sergey Alexandrovich Rumyantsev, from Chelyabinsk.

The identity of the two Russian pilots has not been officially confirmed and so far this remains a rumor.

However, some Russian news sites have also reported that the killed pilot was Rumyantsev, with the caveat that this is unconfirmed.

A VKontakte page purportedly belonging to Sergey Rumyantsev was linked in the news reports. It was last updated on September 19.

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