The Afghan

The Afghan

First edition (UK)
Author	Frederick Forsyth
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Thriller
Publisher	Bantam Press
Publication date	2006
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	343
ISBN

The Afghan is a 2006 thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth.

A joint operation by MI6, the CIA, and Pakistan's ISI against al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan uncovers documents concerning a planned terrorist attack codenamed al-Isra. The cryptic nature of the codename triggers further investigations authorised at the most senior level.

Now eager to learn more about al Qaeda's plans for al-Isra, the three agencies scramble to find out information through their various contacts, including inserting an operative close enough into the terror network's confidence. Middle Eastern scholar Dr. Terry Martin, who is part of a special committee studying the Koran for references to al Isra, accidentally mentions that his elder brother Mike, a retired SAS officer, can pass for an Afghan native; Mike's chestnut-brown complexion, which he inherited from his mother and maternal grandmother, is indeed a perfect match. The elder Martin also has a near-perfect command of Arabic and Pashto, based from his tour of duty in Afghanistan supporting the Mujahideen.

Interested with Mike's appearance, the CIA and MI6 recall him to infiltrate al-Qaeda by assuming the identity of Izmat Khan, a Taliban commander now detained at Guantanamo Bay. It is revealed that Khan and Mike share a common past – he saved the wounded Khan from an attack by Soviet helicopters and brought him to a clinic run by Ayman al Zawahiri, where he also meets "the sheikh", Osama Bin Laden. A wayward US missile that was launched as part of a strike in retaliation for the 1998 East Africa bombings hits a slope in the Tora Bora, resulting in a landslide that buries Khan's village and his entire family; he swears revenge against the US, joining the Taliban in the process. He is later caught after the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi.