Balad (Iraq)

Balad (Arabic: بلد), also transliterated Beled or Belad, is a city in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the national capital, Baghdad. It is the capital of Balad District. Located in Iraq's volatile Sunni Triangle, between the towns of Al Dhuluiya, Yathrib and Ishaqi, 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 by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces, which were repelled by the Shia citizens of the city and the Iraqi Army.