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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).

12:20 12.1.2016

Video footage shows the aftermath of this morning's explosion at Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet district.

Several Dead After Blast Hits Istanbul
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12:22 12.1.2016

Turkish security authorities believe an "IS-linked suicide bomber" was behind the explosion in Sultanahmet, Hurriyet has reported.

Hurriyet says the authorities are focussing on IS links because tourists and civilians were targeted in a major tourist area.

12:28 12.1.2016

Turkish security officials are now saying there's a high probability that IS is responsible for this morning's explosion in Istanbul.

12:30 12.1.2016

There are some horrifying eye witness accounts coming out of Istanbul following this morning's blast.

Witnesses told CNN Turk that the explosion had taken place at the heart of Sultanahmet district, close to an ancient obelisk, and that several people had been seen on the ground after the attack.

Erdem Koroglu, a worker at a nearby office, told the television station NTV that he saw several people on the ground after the blast.

“It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,” Mr. Koroglu said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.”

12:31 12.1.2016

A Norwegian man was among those injured in the blast at Sultanahmet this morning, says Reuters' Ece Toksabay.

12:33 12.1.2016

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the blast in Istanbul this morning was carried out by a suicide bomber of Syrian origin, Hurriyet reports.

12:36 12.1.2016

12:53 12.1.2016

The UN's refugee agency says that land mines pose a threat to children who have been going out to collect grass to eat in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya.

12:54 12.1.2016

12:56 12.1.2016

Humanitarian groups are negotiating with all sides for the evacuation of 400 people, many starving, from the besieged Syrian town of Madaya, the Red Cross has said.

The United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are now working to evacuate around 400 people in need of urgent care, said ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek.

"It's a very complicated process that needs permission to realize this humanitarian operation. We are in negotiations with all parties," Krzysiek told AFP.

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