Video footage of the battle which claimed the life of the first Nepalese Gurkha to be killed in Afghanistan was released today by the Ministry of Defence.

Rifleman Yubraj Rai, 28, was hit by enemy gunfire on November 4 near Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan, a town which has been the scene of intense fighting in recent months. Three members of his unit braved incoming fire to run 100 yards across the battlefield to retrieve his body.

A member of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, he was taking part in a joint ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces operation against Taleban forces when they came under fire. Intelligence had indicated that the Taleban had consolidated their forces in the area since British troops took control of Musa Qala a year ago, and the operation was intended to drive them from the southern districts.

Rifleman Rai, from the Khotang district in eastern Nepal, was the first Nepalese Gurkha soldier to be killed in action since 1999, the Ministry of Defence said.

He was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and had been in the country for only two weeks when he volunteered for the operation to replace another member of his unit who had fallen ill.

Rifleman Rai joined the Army in 1999, following in the footsteps of his father, and had served in Bosnia, Sierra Leone and Iraq.

He was the main breadwinner for his mother, sister and three brothers in Nepal.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Darby, commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, said: "Yubraj Rai was an extraordinary character and a hard professional soldier with a proven operational record." It was typical of the man that he had volunteered for the operation, he said, adding “He epitomised all that makes the Gurkhas great - the best."

The Gurkha was the 122nd member of British forces to be killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001. The toll has since risen to 125.

Less than two weeks after his death, one of his comrades became the second Nepalese fighter to die in action in Afghanistan when he was killed by a roadside bomb. Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, 36, of the same unit, died in the Musa Qala area on November 15.

Last October, British Gurkha Major Alexis Roberts was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan. He was treated at the scene but died from his wounds.

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