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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).

12:34 4.1.2016

A group of militants in the Philippines has pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a video, the SITE Intel Group says.

12:40 4.1.2016

An update on the reports that have been emerging saying that families in Ras Lanuf in Libya have begun to leave the town amid an ongoing attack by the IS group.

The Red Crescent in Ajdabiya has now reportedly said that families have started leaving Ras Lanuf.

12:51 4.1.2016

Libyan freelance journalist Suliman Ali Zway says that IS's attack on Libya's oil terminals is an attempt to gain control, rather than just an ordinary assault.

12:51 4.1.2016

13:21 4.1.2016

Libyan social media accounts are tweeting photos claiming to show Sidra, which has been targeted by IS militants today.

13:26 4.1.2016

Libya's Al Wasat News is reporting that two guards were killed this morning in IS suicide car bombings at the Sidra oil terminal.

Al Wasat is quoting residents from Ras Lanuf some 20 kilometers away who said that they heard two very loud explosions.

13:29 4.1.2016

Libya's Al Wasat News also reports that a senior IS leader, Abu Hamam al-Tunisi ("the Tunisian") was killed during the clashes at Sidra in Libya today.

14:14 4.1.2016

The Daily Telegraph reports that the assault by IS militants to control Libya's largest oil depot at Sidra comes amid expectation that British troops could soon be sent to Libya to help its fledgling government fight IS there.

Under the plan, up to 1,000 British troops would form part of a joint force with Italy - Libya's former colonial power - in training and advising Libyan forces. British special forces could also be engaged on the front line.

14:16 4.1.2016

Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, has called the recent IS killing video featuring a male militant and a young boy with British accents, "desperate stuff."

The video shows that the IS group is "losing territory" and "increasingly losing anybody's sympathy", Cameron said, according to the BBC.

14:16 4.1.2016

The United States and its allies conducted 25 strikes against the IS group in Iraq on January 3, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement released today.

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