Aziz Iqtbal

Aziz Iqtbal is the narrator and main character of this novel. He agreed to sign up with the Special Lashkar, a group of Afghan troops funded by Americans, to fight the Taliban. Aziz was promised that in exchange for his service he would be given the opportunity to get badal, or revenge, on Gazan for injuries received by his brother in a bombing, and the money he earned would pay for medical care for his brother. Aziz did not like being a soldier because he didn’t like the way he was forced to treat his fellow Afghans. One example of this came when Aziz was on patrol guarding a smugglers’ path. He was very upset by the way his commanding officer treated a group of men who tried to pass them on this path. Although the men presented no real threat to Aziz or any of...