Series of Gurkha deaths leaves Gurung household inconsolable

SARDIKHOLA (KASKI)          : The residence of 22-year-old British Gurkha soldier Ishwar Gurung, who was killed in an attack by Taliban militants in Afghanistan on Friday, is packed with relatives. Inmates of the house in Bhujrungkhola of Sardikhola-1, Kaski, include Ishwar´s elder brother and little sister. Ishwar´s mother Sunkumari and another elder brother Ram reached Kathmandu Sunday morning after being summoned by the British Embassy. This is the fifth death in the Gurung household in the past nine years, after the deaths of Ishwar´s father, grandfather, grandmother and uncle. Ishwar joined the British Gurkha regiment three years ago. He was scheduled to come home in September to receive tika from his mother during Dashain. The only time he came home after he joined the regiment was in August last year. While at home for a month´s vacation, he had asked his family members to purchase a gas stove and build a new kitchen so that his mother would not suffer from health consequences of cooking on firewood. Sunkumari had purchased a gas stove and was building a kitchen when news of his death reached them. “His wish to eat food cooked by his mother on the gas stove couldn´t materialize,” said his uncle Dev Gurung. Ishwar´s father Dil Bahadur, a former Indian Army serviceman, passed away six years ago. Ishwar is the third among Dil Bahadur´s three sons. Surya, the eldest, works as a painter in Pokhara, while Ram attends college, also in Pokhara. Ishwar´s sister, 13-year-old Richa, is a fifth grader at Sildudeurali School. Losing the family´s breadwinner has dealt a big blow to the Gurung family. The family still has Dil Bahadur´s pension to survive on, but the dream of moving to a city has been shattered, according to Surya, to whom Ishwar shared this dream during a phone conversation three months ago. Ishwar completed SLC from Machchapuchre Secondary School. “He always scored the highest grades in class,” said his teacher Dev Laxmi Gurung. Officials from the British Camp informed the family about the tragedy Saturday morning. Sunkumari and Ram are preparing to leave for the United Kingdom to bring Ishwar´s body to Nepal. NEWS by Santosh Pokharel Tributes To Helicopter Accident Soldier Remand Kulung A British soldier who died following a helicopter accident at a base in Afghanistan was "kind, brave and honest", his wife has said. Rifleman Remand Kulung, 27, from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment, was originally from Nepal and joined The Royal Gurkha Rifles in December 2004. Rfn Kulung's wife, Sophy, said: "My husband, Rfn Remand Kulung, was a kind, brave and very honest soldier. "He has always been sincere and devoted towards his responsibilities as a soldier, which Gurkha soldiers are renowned for. "He sacrificed his great life while he was doing his duty. "Though it was a great loss that cannot be replaced, his passing has left me the reason to be proud of being a wife of a brave soldier like him. "He'll be missed by me and my family forever." Rfn Kulung was injured while on sentry duty on Tuesday in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand. Part of a Chinook helicopter came into contact with a sangar - a fortified post - at Bahadur patrol base, the MoD said. The sangar collapsed, seriously injuring the soldier. He was treated in Afghanistan before being moved to the UK, where he died on Thursday in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Lieutenant Colonel Andy Hadfield, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire), said the rifleman had served in Afghanistan twice as well as in Bosnia. "He was a courageous, fit and highly capable soldier, committed to his profession and to his comrades," he said. "He had passed the highly demanding junior leadership course and was awaiting promotion - it undoubtedly would have come. "A passionate supporter of Manchester United, and a man possessing of a natural and sharp sense of humour, Remand Kulung settled into life with the men of the north-west of England superbly." The British death toll in the Afghan campaign since 2001 now stands at 331. News from Sky News Online