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Gurkhas get ready for
deployment to Afghanistan

by Sam Lennon

Kent-based Gurkha soldiers are
preparing to return to Afghanistan – with intense training in the
county.

Around 350 members of the 1st
Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, based in Shorcliffe, Folkestone,
are going on a six-month tour this year.

To prepare them for the frontline,
they have been at Lydd Ranges for three-and-a-half days and nights
of firing training.

Among them was Sgt Govinda Gurung,
pictured below – who has many times come within an inch
of his life in Afghanistan.

On his previous two tours of duty he
regularly faced the bullets of the Taliban, but still he is not
scared about returning for a third time.

The 34-year-old said: "I have had lots
of small arms contact with the enemy with small arms fire. I can’t
count how many times now.

"But I am not scared about going back.
Our task is counter-insurgency, winning hearts and minds.

"As the trust grows the threat
lessens."

The Gurkhas have a good relationship
with ordinary people in Afghanistan, with both sides having a
common language – Urdu.

Gurkhas have worked with the local
population, setting up small schools and finding qualified teacher
and helping provide water for irrigation and helping arrange for
medical care.

Cpl Prakash Gauchan believes the
training at Lydd gives him and his comrades the courage to face the
enemy.

The 29-year-old, who has a wife and
two-year-old son, said: "I have been to Afghanistan twice before
but I am not scared of going again.

"I have lots of training which will
help me and that makes me prepared."