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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).

15:43 11.12.2015

The Turkey-Syria border must be closed immediately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Lavrov hinted at Russia's ongoing accusations that Turkey is assisting the IS group by providing it with a transit point for weapons, recruits and oil. Turkey has denied the allegations, calling them "slanderous."

"The international community cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that somene is playing the role of IS's accomplice, and providing the terrorists with... weapons, transit services, and having commercial transactions with them. We insist that all this must be stopped," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the pro-Kremlin RIA Novosti.

15:26 11.12.2015

More developments in the spat between Turkey and Iraq over Turkish troop deployment in northern Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has asked his Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal complaint with the UN Security Council regarding Turkey's troop deployments in northern Iraq, Reuters report.

Abadi said in a statement on his website that he has asked that the Security Council order Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately.

15:23 11.12.2015

Today's Zaman has more on this afternoon's comments from Turkish President Erdogan regarding Turkish troop deployment to northern Iraq.

Erdogan said that Turkey will not withdraw its troops from a camp close to the IS-controlled city of Mosul.

The Turkish president said the deployed troops are not combat soldiers but have been deployed to protect soldiers who are training Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

15:20 11.12.2015

Turkey's Daily Sabah tweets these comments from Turkish President Erdogan regarding the spat with Baghdad over Turkish troop deployment to northern Iraq.

15:16 11.12.2015

RFE/RL's Golnaz Esfandiari tweets a report that at least 11 Iranians have been killed fighting in Syria in recent days.

Iranian fighters have been fighting alongside Syrian government troops in Syria.

The number of Iranian fighters dying in Syria has reportedly increased in recent weeks.

15:13 11.12.2015

Conditions are taking shape for cooperation between Russia and the U.S.-led coalition against IS in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, according to RIA Novosti.

"I think that right now the conditions are coming together for genuine cooperation with the coalition, which will be based on collective work, including to identify goals," Lavrov told a news conference following talks in Rome today with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni.

15:05 11.12.2015

Some of the weapons used in the November 13 Paris attacks were manufactured in Serbia's arms factory, including one that was legally exported to the United States in 2013, a company official told AFP.

Serbia's Interior Ministry was asked by French police and Interpol to check the serial numbers of seven items of weaponry believed to have been manufactured in Serbia.

15:02 11.12.2015

This just in from AFP. No more details as yet.

15:00 11.12.2015

From our news desk:

'Russian-Speaking' Woman Carries Out Suicide Attack In Afghanistan

A suicide bombing in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province has killed five people.

Nangarhar governor's office spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said the incident occurred shortly after security forces arrested nine Russian-speaking foreigners, including a woman and three children late on December 10.

Khogyani said the group was transferred to a security forces office when the woman who had been arrested detonated explosives strapped to her body.

The three children and one Afghan intelligence officer were killed in the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

An investigation is under way on the remaining members of the group that was detained.

14:13 11.12.2015

The Kurdish YPG says that at least 50 people have been killed and 80 more wounded in a triple truck bombing by IS militants in the town of Tel Tamer in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province.

The YPG control Hasakah and are fighting IS militants.

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