What is the importance of the town of Ashuriyah in the novel, Youngblood?

Ashuriyah is the town in which most of the narrative unfolds, playing host to a number of factions that simultaneously compete and cooperate with one another for influence in the region. Gallagher describes the town as a series of winding, aimless roads and unmarked territories between Shi'a and Sunni Muslims, indicating the confusion and obfuscation of the truth that lies beneath the surface. The town is at once described as malodorous, dusty, muddy, filled with garbage, and sun-blasted. Bullet holes riddle most of the structures in the town, which speaks to the town's history as a center of conflict in the region.