Gurkha who repelled Taliban attack wins bravery award

A GURKHA soldier who overcame incredible odds to defeat more than 30 Taliban fighters single-handedly was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) by the Queen yesterday.

Corporal Dipprasad Pun, 31, said he was spurred on by the belief that he was going to die and so had nothing to lose in taking on the attackers who overran his checkpoint in Afghanistan.

His gallantry award is second only to the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for bravery in the face of the enemy.

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Cpl Pun, from the 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, was presented with the CGC during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, during which a number of other soldiers were also recognised for bravery.

The soldier fired more than 400 rounds, launched 17 grenades and detonated a mine to thwart the Taliban assault on his checkpoint near Babaji in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, last September.

At one point, after exhausting all his ammunition, Cpl Pun, an acting sergeant during his Afghan deployment, had to use the tripod of his machine gun to beat away a militant who was climbing the walls of the compound.

Speaking about the actions which earned him the CGC, he said: “At that time I wasn’t worried, there wasn’t any choice but to fight. The Taliban were all around the checkpoint. I was alone. I had so many of them around me that I thought I was definitely going to die so I thought I’d kill as many of them as I could before they killed me.”

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The married soldier, whose father and grandfather were also Gurkhas, is originally from the village of Bima in western Nepal but now lives in Ashford, Kent.

Major General Nicholas Carter, who was commander of combined forces, including British troops, in southern Afghanistan during Cpl Pun’s deployment, praised the soldier and those from the Mercian Regiment receiving gallantry awards yesterday.

The senior officer, who received the Distinguished Service Order from the Queen for his leadership in Afghanistan, said: “Their efforts have been tremendous. It was a privilege to have members of the 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles and the Mercian Regiment under my command.