Balad ( ar, بلد), also transliterated ''Beled'' or ''Belad'', is a city in

Saladin Governorate The Saladin or Salah Al-Din Governorate ( ar, محافظة صلاح الدين) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, north of the national capital,

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. It is the capital of Balad District. Located between the towns of Al Dhuluiya,

Yathrib Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

and Ishaqi, Balad's inhabitants belong to farmers work mainly in grape farms, fig trees, and citrus growers. In the later months of 2014 the city was besieged by

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

forces, which were easily repelled by the Shia citizens of the city and the Iraqi government security forces

During the Iraq War

During the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Balad was, in 2006, the site of sectarian violence involving Sunni and Shi'ite militias. In 2007 the mayor, Amir Abdul Hadi, escaped an assassination attempt.

Military installations

The largest military air base in Iraq, formerly LSA Anaconda, Balad Air Base, or Al-Bakir Air Base, is located within the municipality of Yethrib 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 major

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g ...

point for US Army supply convoys. On the outskirts of Balad proper is a tiny

forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may or may not contain an airfield, hospital, machine ...

called Balad Joint Coordination Center (formerly FOB Paliwoda). Over the years, FOB Paliwoda had been occupied by 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and 3rd Squadron 4th US Cavalry in an effort to create a joint effort between coalition and local forces.

2016 attack

On the 7 July 2016, militants from the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

attacked the tomb of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi, the son of

Ali al-Hadi ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Hādī ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُحَمَّد ٱلْهَادِي; 828 – 868 CE) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the tenth of the Twelve Imams, succeeding his father, Muhammad al-Jawad. He ...

and the brother of

Hasan al-Askari Hasan ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ( ar, الحَسَن بْن عَلِيّ بْن مُحَمَّدُ, translit=al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad; ), better known as Hasan al-Askari ( ar, الحَسَن ٱلْعَسْكَرِيّ , translit=al-Ḥa ...

. According to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

'' 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 the Eid al-Fitr festival.At least 35 killed in attack on Shi'ite mausoleum north of Baghdad
Reuters, July 8, 2016.

References

External links

from Globalsecurity.org
Air Force in IraqDiary of an insurgent in retreat
{{Authority control Populated places in Saladin Governorate District capitals of Iraq Cities in Iraq