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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).

10:33 14.1.2016

Journalist Sophie McNeill of ABC News shared this video of Mohammad Issa, who doctors say is one of around 400 people who need urgent evacuation from Madaya for medical treatment.

10:37 14.1.2016

'There Are People In Madaya, But There Is No Life'

As a second convoy of aid heads to the Syrian town of Madaya, this morning, the BBC's Richard Colebourn points out that there has been no talk yet of evacuating some of the most ill and malnourished people from the town, as the UN requested this week.

"There is no comparison in what we saw in Madaya," the UN refugee agency's chief, Sajjad Malik, said after visiting the town this week.

"There are people in Madaya, but there is no life, the situation is horrible. There is no food, no light, no heating with low temperatures."

10:46 14.1.2016

An Islamic State-linked group is suspected of carrying out this morning's attacks in Jakarta, AFP is reporting.

10:51 14.1.2016

At least 17 people -- including five attackers -- have been killed in this morning's attacks in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

10:52 14.1.2016

10:56 14.1.2016

Jakarta Attacks 'Following Pattern Of Paris Attacks'

A national police spokesman has told AFP that an Indonesian organization with links to the IS group is suspected of carrying out the attacks in Jakarta.

"From what we see today, this group is following the pattern of the Paris attacks," police spokesman Anton Charliyan said.

10:58 14.1.2016

'IS Issued Cryptic Warning' Before Jakarta Attacks

Indonesian police said that the IS group issued a "cryptic warning" before the attacks in the capital Jakarta this morning.

"The warning said there will be a concert in Indonesia and it will be international news," he told a local radio station.

He did not give any further details, or say when the warning was issued.

11:00 14.1.2016

Police in Jakarta say the situation there is now under control, and the five suspected attackers have been killed.

No group has yet claimed responsibility but police say they suspect that an IS-linked group was behind the attacks.

11:05 14.1.2016

11:17 14.1.2016

Five policemen were shot after a clash with attackers in front of a Starbucks branch in Jakarta, Indonesian deputy police chief Budi Gunawan says.

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