Gurkha rifleman killed in Afghanistan is named

Musa Qala The first Nepalese Gurkha soldier to be killed in Afghanistan has been named as Yubraj Rai, 28, of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles. He died on Tuesday in Musa Qala, southern Afghanistan, when a joint patrol with the Afghan National Security Forces was attacked. Rifleman Rai, from the Khotang district of eastern Nepal, had joined the Army in 1999. His commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Darby, said: “He was an extraordinary character and a hard professional soldier with a proven operational record.”