A One Man Army
——————–
A GURKHA who fired 400 bullets and 17 grenades
while single handedly fighting off 30 Taliban militants
is to receive the second highest military honor for
bravery. Acting Sgt Dip prasad Pun, 31, was on sentry duty
alone at night when he discovered tow insurgents
preparing to plant a bomb outside. As enemy fighters launched wave after wave of
attacks, the 1.7m (5ft 7in ) Gurkha opened fire with a
machine gun, a rifle and grenade launcher. When he exhausted all ammunition he tried to batter
one militant with a sandbag before bludgeoning him
with a machine gun tripod, as he roared in Nepali ” I
Will Kill You” The soldier, from the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was alerted
to the enemy when he heard what he thought was a
cow or donkey near his sentry post. But, When he climbed on to the roof, he found two
insurgents digging a trench to lay an improvised
explosive device at the checkpoint’s front gate. He then found himself pinned down under attack
from rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s for more
than 15 minutes, as he frantically radioed for back
up. At first, he was afraid but he said yesterday ‘ As soon
as i opened fire, that was gone- before they kill me i
have to kill some’ When the fight was over , his company commander
arrived, casually slapped him on the back and asked
if he was OK The third- generation Gurkha, from Keat, will receive
the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, one of 136 awards
to be announced.
