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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).

10:51 12.1.2016

Harald Doornbos has linked to photos of the area in Istanbul where this morning's blast is thought to have taken place, based on media reports.

10:47 12.1.2016

AP have published a photo showing Turkish police securing an area of Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district, a popular tourist area, following an explosion earlier this morning.

10:45 12.1.2016

Turkish officials seem to be confirming initial suspicions that the Istanbul blast was terror related.

10:43 12.1.2016

Meanwhile, in Syria's Latakia province, the Syrian army has made advances into the key rebel-held town of Salma.

Some sources are saying that Salma has completely fallen to the Syrian army, but this is unconfirmed as yet.

10:41 12.1.2016

10:40 12.1.2016

The World Health Organization has asked the Syrian government for permission to send mobile clinics and medical teams to the besieged town of Madaya to assess the extent of malnutrition and evacuate the worst cases, its representative said on Tuesday, Reuters is reporting.

WHO's Damascus representative Elizabeth Roth told Reuters that she is "really alarmed" and that WHO needs to do a "door-to-door assessment" in the town.

10:37 12.1.2016

10:36 12.1.2016

Unconfirmed reports of 10 dead in Istanbul.

10:35 12.1.2016

The Wall Street Journal's Thomas Grove says the blast in Istanbul was likely a suicide bomber.

10:32 12.1.2016

Casualties have been reported in an explosion in central Istanbul.

From our news desk:

Casualties Reported In Central Istanbul Blast

Reports from Turkey say an explosion has rocked the center of Istanbul, causing some casualties.

The explosion occurred on January 12 in Sultanahmet Square, a major tourist attraction.

Police sealed off the square after the blast.

The Sultanahmet neighborhood is Istanbul's main sightseeing area and includes the Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque.

The blast in Turkey's largest city comes after a series of deadly attacks across the country in past months.

Two suicide bombs in the capital, Ankara, in October killed more than 100 people. Prosecutors said that attack was carried out by Islamic State militants.

Turkey is also waging an assault on the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has staged deadly attacks against members of the security forces in the country's southeast.

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