Gurkha Arjun Pun killed in action

Corporal Arjun Purja Pun, 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, was killed along with two colleagues on 13 July 2010.

Corporal Arjun Purja Pun was 33 years old and was raised and recruited from Khibang village in the Magdi District in Nepal. 

He passed the notoriously gruelling Gurkha selection process and was enlisted into the British Army on 30 January 1995. 

His career was varied and successful and he was a hugely popular soldier wherever he served.

In 1998-99 he was a member of the Gurkha Reinforcement Company attached to B Company, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. 

Most recently, he was posted to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he supported the training of future Officers for the British Army and other national forces.

Corporal Arjun was in 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles based in Brunei at the time when they deployed on Op HERRICK 7 as the Reserve Battlegroup as part of Regional Command South based in Kandahar. 

He deployed on Op HERRICK 12 in early June 2010 as a battlefield casualty replacement. 

Read report of the three Gurkhas killed

British Gurkha Rifles lose three men

Major James Joshua Bowman, Lieutenant Neal Turkington and Corporal Arjun Purja Pun from 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles were killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 13 July 2010.

L-R: Major James Bowman, Lt Neal Turkington, Cpl Arjun Pun

The three soldiers, serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (South), were killed in a suspected premeditated attack by a member of the Afghan National Army.

Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Liam Fox, said:

"The despicable and treacherous act which has taken the lives of these three brave men will not dent the resolve of the colleagues they leave behind.
"The efforts of 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles have directly improved the security situation in the Nahr-e Saraj district; their bold acts have improved the lives of the Afghan people and their mission to partner and train the Afghan National Army is vital to our success.
"I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the servicemen killed in this atrocious attack, their sacrifice will not be forgotten."

Use following links to read about each man:

Major James Bowman

Lieutenant Neal Turkington

Corporal Arjun Purja Pun

French Army WO Laurent Mosic

French Army Sergent-chef Laurent Mosic was killed in action on 6th July 2010 during an operation in the Sherkhel area south of Tagab. He was killed by the blast of an insurgent bomb.

38-year-old WO Mosic served with the 13th Engineer Regiment (13th RG) of Valdahon, and was on a joint operation with the 1st Infantry, 3rd Brigade of the Afghan army when the incident occurred.

Australian soldier, Private Nathan Bewes

Pvt. Nathan Bewes

The Australian Defence Force has announced the death of Private Nathan John Bewes during operations in Afghanistan.

Private Bewes was serving with 1st Mentoring Task Force when he tragically lost his life from an Improvised Explosive Device on Friday 9 July, 2010.

Twenty-three-year-old Private Nathan Bewes was from the Brisbane-based 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment.

Click here to see listing of all Australian military fatalities

Commando David Hart killed in action

Marine David Charles Hart from 40 Commando Royal Marines was killed in Afghanistan on Thursday 8 July 2010.

David Hart, 40 Commando

Marine Hart was serving as part of Combined Force Sangin and was killed in an explosion while on foot patrol in the Sangin District of Helmand Province.

Marine David Charles Hart was born in York, North Yorkshire and was 23 years old and lived with his family in Upper Poppleton.

He joined recruit training in February 2009, and stood out as one of the top recruits and in recognition of this was awarded his Diamond.

He passed out for duty as a Royal Marines Commando on 16 October 2009, when he was awarded The Commando Medal.

NORWAY Military Fatalities - full list

NORWAY

This is the full list of Norwegian military fatalities since 2002

Date	Name	Rank	Age	Unit	Cause
01-Apr-11	Skare, Siri	Lt. Col	53
27-Jun-10	Eldjarn, Andreas	Navy PO	21	Coastal Rangers	IED attack
27-Jun-10	Tokle, Simen	Lieutenant	24	Coastal Rangers	IED attack
27-Jun-10	Bolle, Trond Andre	Lt Cmdr	41	Naval Command	IED attack
27-Jun-10	Lian,Christian	Lieutenant	31	Coastal Rangers	IED attack
25-Jan-10	Olsson, Joachim Claes	Grenader	22	Telemark Battalion	IED attack
17-Apr-09	Kolset, Trond Petter	Captain	30	Intelligence Service	Suicide bomb
08-Nov-08	Jørgensen, Kristoffer Sørli	Private	22	Home Guard	IED attack
23-Jul-07	Lau-Henriksen, Tor Arne	Lieutenant	33	Norwegian Army	Hostile fire
23-May-04	Roedningsby, Tommy	Grenadier	29	Norwegian Army	RPG attack

Norwegian Navy Lieutenant Christian Lian

Lieutenant Christian Lian

Norwegian Navy Lieutenant Christian Lian, aged 31, from Kristiansand, was one of four Norwegian military personnel killed in Afghanistan on 27th June 2010.

The four personnel were all in the same car driving along a road in the Faryab province when a roadside bomb was detonated by Taliban insurgents.

The four men were all fatally wounded in the attack.

Lt. Lian served with the Coastal Rangers.

Nowegian Navy Commander, Trond Bolle

Lt. Commander Trond Bolle

Norwegian Navy Commander, Trond Andre Bolle, aged 41, from Lena, was one of four Norwegian military personnel killed in Afghanistan on 27th June 2010.

The four personnel were all in the same car driving along a road in the Faryab province when a roadside bomb was detonated by Taliban insurgents.

The four men were all fatally wounded in the attack.

Lt. Commander Bolle served with Norwegian Naval Command.

Norwegian Navy ensign, Simen Tokle

Lt. Simen Tokle

Norwegian Navy Ensign, 2nd Lieutenant Simen Tokle, aged 24, from Ballia, was one of four Norwegian military personnel killed in Afghanistan on 27th June 2010.

The four personnel were all in the same car driving along a road in the Faryab province when a roadside bomb was detonated by Taliban insurgents.

The four men were all fatally wounded in the attack.

Lt. Tokle served with the Coastal Rangers.

Norwegian, Andreas Eldjarn

Andreas Eldjarn

Norwegian Navy Quartermaster, Andreas Eldjarn, aged 21, from Tromso, was one of four Norwegian military personnel killed in Afghanistan on 27th June 2010.

The four personnel were all in the same car driving along a road in the Faryab province when a roadside bomb was detonated by Taliban insurgents.

The four men were all fatally wounded in the attack.

QM Eldjarn served with the Coastal Rangers.

Polish sapper, Corporal Pawel Stypula

Corporal Paweł Stypuła

On 26th June 2010 at about 19.45 (local time) in the southern part of Ghazni province, Polish sapper, Corporal Paweł Stypuła, was killed while defusing a land mine.

His team had been called by a Polish patrol who had narrowly escaped the blast from another IED.

Corporal Stypula, aged 26, was serving with the 2nd Masovian Sappers Brigade.

Journalist, James Hunter killed

James Hunter

James Hunter, 25, was a staff sergeant and journalist with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. He was killed by an improvised explosive device while covering his unit's foot patrols in Kandahar. He was the first Army journalist killed in action in Afghanistan since U.S. military operations began in October 2001.

Hunter would escort visiting journalists at times, but Kimberly Warren, editor of The Fort Campbell Courier, who worked with Hunter for about three years, said he frequently filed stories and photographs for her paper.  

The Courier serves troops stationed at Fort Campbell (on the border of the U.S. states of Kentucky and Tennessee) and the base's surrounding civilian communities. The Associated Press quoted Hunter's colleagues as saying that Hunter also wrote, edited, and designed a monthly magazine. 

Hunter was on his first deployment to Afghanistan when he was killed. He had served twice in Iraq, Warren said.

Italian Army Corporal Francis Xavier Positano

Corporal Francis Xavier Positano, aged 29, died in an accident on the road between Shindand and Herat, on 23rd June 2010. He served with the 32nd Engineers Regiment, the Brigade Alpine Taurinense.

A column of armoured vehicles was on a reconnaisance patrol when Cpl. Positano apparantly fell from a vehicle. He suffered a serious head injury in the fall and was evacuated by helicopter to an American Field Hospital but died shortly after arriving there.

If anyone has a positive photo of Corporal Positano, please contact us so that we can add it to his obituary.

IED kills two Romanian troops

Two Romanian troops were killed 23rd June 2010 near Qalat, after their Humvee was hit by a makeshift remotely detonated explosive device.

According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the two soldiers were part of the 33rd Maneuver Battalion in Afghanistan.

"Sergeant-Major Dan Ciobotaru and Corporal Paul Caracuda were on a mission on the Kabul-Kandahar motorway. Around 30 km away from Qalat, their Humvee was attacked with a remotely detonated explosive device. The two soldiers lost their lives in the explosion," the Defense Ministry said.

Ciobotaru was 28 and not married. Caracuda, 36, had been employed with the Defense Ministry since 1996. He was married and had two children.

Australian Commandos killed in Afghanistan

THREE Australian soldiers killed in a chopper crash in Afghanistan have been named.

Privates Tim Aplin, 38, Ben Chuck, 27, and Scott Palmer, 27, were killed when a chopper crashed in southern Kandahar province yesterday.

All three were from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment.

L-R: Ben Chuck, Tim Aplin, Scott Palmer

Click to read more

Click here to see listing of all Australian military fatalities