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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).

12:23 6.1.2016

A video of the fires at the Sidra oil terminal following clashes with IS on January 5.

12:19 6.1.2016

Reuters have tweeted this image of oil storage tanks on fire at Sidra following IS attacks on January 4 and 5.

12:17 6.1.2016

Fires caused by clashes between IS militants and guards near Libya's biggest oil ports have spread to four oil storage tanks that were still burning today, Petroleum Facilities Guards spokesman Ali al-Hassi has said, Reuters is reporting.

There are three fires at Sidra and one at nearby Ras Lanuf which fire fighters are trying to control.

Hassi said that while the PFG are in control of Sidra and Ras Lanuf, skirmishes are continuing.

At least nine guards have been killed and more than 40 injured, while the PFG have recovered the bodies of 30 IS militants, according to Hassi.

11:58 6.1.2016

IS has not launched a new attack (at least not yet) on Sidra in Libya today but this rather nice map tweeted earlier today by AFP shows Libya's oil facilities and where IS has attacked on January 4 and 5.

11:56 6.1.2016

The IS group's local radio in its Libyan stronghold of Sirte is calling in militants to seize oil from unbelievers and playing jihadi "nasheeds" -- Arabic chants, Libyan analust Mohamed Eljarh says.

These updates come after a spokesman for Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard said this morning that IS is trying to regroup some kilometers from Sidra.

11:39 6.1.2016

Libya's Alwasat is also reporting that a 15-year-old boy from Tripoli was one of the suicide bombers used by the IS group to attack the oil port of Sidra on January 4.

11:38 6.1.2016

Ageila Saleh, who represents Libya's internationally recognized government, has condemned the attacks by the IS group on Libya's oil terminal of Sidra.

11:35 6.1.2016

The latest IS propaganda video in which London-born militant Siddhartha Dhar is thought to appear has turned attention to a banned Islamist group -- al-Muhajiroun -- to which Dhar formerly belonged.

Reuters has given a profile of al-Muhajiroun, which was banned in the UK in 2010 under anti-terrorist legislation.

The group was founded by Syrian-born Islamist cleric Omar Bakri in the late 1990s and called for Sharia law in Britain.

Its leaders have maintained that they do not support violence, acting under a "covenant of security" that requires Muslims in non-Muslim countries to submit to the authorities.

The group gained media notoriety in Britain after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States for issuing leaflets that referred to the hijackers as "the Magnificent 19".

It held regular meetings in community centers in east London and would often stage demonstrations outside the prime minister's office in Downing Street calling for all governments to operate under a strict form of Islamic law.

11:31 6.1.2016

Libyan political activist Adel al-Hassi has called on Libya's factions to unite in the face of attacks from the IS group.

11:29 6.1.2016

Libya's Petroleum Facilities Guard spokesman says that the is coordinating with the Chief of Staff of Libya's General National Congress (GNC) for a wider military operation to defeat the IS group.

Hassi says that the PFG is willing to cooperate with any faction in Libya that is willing to help it defeat IS.

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