Balad بلد | |
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City | |
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  Balad | |
| Coordinates:34°0′59″N44°08′43″E / 34.01639°N 44.14528°E /34.01639; 44.14528 | |
| Country | Iraq |
| Governorate | Saladin |
| District | Balad |
| Elevation | 52 m (171 ft) |
| Population (2015) | |
• Total | 80,000[1] |
Balad[2] (Arabic:بلد), also transliteratedBeled orBelad, is a city inSaladin Governorate,Iraq, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the national capital,Baghdad. It is the capital ofBalad District. Located in Iraq's volatileSunni Triangle, between the towns ofAl Dhuluiya,Yathrib andIshaqi, Balad's inhabitants are primarily farmers who work mainly on grape and date farms and as citrus growers.
In the later months of 2014 the city was besieged byIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces, which were repelled by the Shia citizens of the city and theIraqi Army.[3]
During theIraq War Balad was, in 2006, the site of sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shi'ite militias.[4][5]
In 2007 the mayor, Amir Abdul Hadi, escaped an assassination attempt.[6]
Thelargest military air base in Iraq, formerly LSA Anaconda, Balad Air Base, or Al-Bakir Air Base, is located within the municipality of Yathrib near Balad. As of early 2007 the base was the central hub for airlift and US Air Force operations in Iraq; it was also a majortransshipment point for US Army supply convoys.
On the outskirts of Balad proper there was a tinyforward operating base called Balad Joint Coordination Center (formerlyFOB Paliwoda). Over the years, FOB Paliwoda had been occupied by 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and 3rd Squadron4th US Cavalry in an effort to create a joint effort between coalition and local forces.
On the 7 July 2016,Islamic State militants attacked the tomb ofMuhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi, the son ofAli al-Hadi and the brother ofHasan al-Askari. According toReuters citing Iraqi security forces, "at least 20 people were killed and 50 others wounded on Thursday evening in an attack on a Shi'ite mausoleum north of Baghdad". A suicide car bomb blew up at the external gate of the mausoleum, allowing several gunmen to storm the site and start shooting at pilgrims on a visit on the occasion of theEid al-Fitr festival.[7]
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