Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Balad, Iraq

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Country
  
Iraq

District
  
Balad

Local time
  
Tuesday 10:42 PM

Governorate
  
Saladin

Elevation
  
52 m

Balad, Iraq

Weather
  
16°C, Wind E at 10 km/h, 38% Humidity

Balad (Arabic: بلد‎‎), also transliterated Beled or Belad, is a city in the Salah ad Din Governorate, Iraq, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the national capital, Baghdad. It is the capital of Balad District. Located between the Sunni towns of Al Dhuluiya, Yathrib and Ishaqi, Balad has a vast Shiite majority and a shrinking Sunni minority.

Contents

Map of Balad, Iraq

In the later months of 2014 the city was besieged by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces, which was easily repelled by the Shia citizens of the city and their Shia state security forces

Battle for balad iraq


During the Iraq War

During the Iraq War 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 point for US Army supply convoys.

On the outskirts of Balad proper is a tiny forward operating base 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 7th July 2016, militants from the Islamic State attacked the tomb of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi, the son of Ali al-Hadi and the brother of Hasan al-Askari. According to Reuters 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.

References

Balad, Iraq Wikipedia