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 Shiite majority and Sunni minority .In the later months of 2014 the city was besieged by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces.