Balad (Iraq)
| Balad | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 34 ° 1 ′ N , 44 ° 9 ′ E | ||
| Country |
 Iraq
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| Governorate | Salah ad-Din | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Residents | 80,000 (2015) | ||
| prefix | |||
| mayor | Amir Abdul Hadi (2007) | ||
Balad ( Arabic بلد, DMG Balad ) is an Iraqi town in the Salah ad-Din governorate .
The place is about 50 km north of Baghdad. Balad is the stopping point of the Baghdad Railway . During the 2006 Iraq war , there were violent clashes between Sunni and Shiite fighters.
Until the withdrawal of the American armed forces in December 2011, the largest US military base, the Joint Base Balad , was located in Balad . In December 2014 Shiite fighters were killed by units of the Islamic State . In December 2014, however, the Islamic State failed to take the besieged place.