Balad

Balad (Arabic: بلد‎) is a city (80 kilometres) north of Baghdad in the Salah ad Din Governorate Iraq. It is located within the borders of the so-called Sunni Triangle; however, Balad is a primarily Shiite town of approximately 100,000. It is the principal town of the Balad district. Located within the municipality of Yethrib, the installation is known officially as Joint Base Balad, formerly LSA Anaconda and Balad Air Base. The name of this base in the Saddam era was Al-Bakir Air Base (Arabic: قاعدة البكر الجوية‎). This base currently hosts several Army and Air Force units, as well as a small attachments of U.S. Navy personnel. As of early 2007 the base is the central hub for airlift and U.S. Air Force operations in Iraq, it is also a...