Rambo Gurkha in solo Taliban blitz

The Sun By JOHN KAY and DAVID WILLETS

A LONE Gurkha has fought off the Taliban in a Rambo-style hail of fire.

Heroic Sergeant Dipprasad Pun HOISTED a giant machine gun off its mount and HELD it as he blazed away at a dozen attackers.

Firepower ... Sgt Dip held 30lb gun and let fly 750 rounds a minute

He is believed to have killed three and wounded several others with the gun - weighing well over 30lb and hammering out 750 rounds a minute.

A source said: "It would have taken a superhuman effort to hold the gun and fire it. Apart from its weight, the recoil is colossal."

Firefight ... he held off a dozen Taliban from rooftop, killing at least 3

The 15-minute stand came after Sgt Dip, 31, was left at a checkpoint in Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.

Spotting a Taliban attack, he ran on to a roof to man a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun mounted on a tripod.

As the insurgents came over the wall Sgt Dip realised he could not lower the gun enough to hit them. So he yanked out the pins locking it down - CHUCKING the heavy tripod at the enemy - and lifted it up.

He also beat off the attackers with grenades and an SA80 rifle before reinforcements arrived.

Sgt Dip, of 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles, would not speak about the September 17 battle. And it is too early to speculate if he will win a medal as citations have not been written. But Army spokesman Lt Col David Eastman said: "He is a credit to his unit."

Heroic ... Sgt Dipprasad Pun beat off attackers

Hero's proud medal history:

THE Gurkhas have a distinguished history of Victoria Cross winners.

Honour ... Victoria Cross

Rifleman Lachhiman Gurung took on 200 Japanese troops while manning a forward post in Burma in May 1945.

During the battle, which left him blinded, he threw two grenades back at the enemy - but a third detonated, blowing off his arm.

Lachhiman, now 92, continued to fire his rifle with his good arm for four hours, killing at least 30. He retired on disability grounds in 1946 and is wheelchair-bound in Hounslow, West London.

Rifleman Tul Bahadur Pun, 21, led a lone charge against a Japanese machine gun nest after his comrades were slaughtered in Burma in June 1944.

He killed three enemy soldiers and chased off five others.

Now 87, he then used two captured machine guns and ammunition to provide cover for his platoon following behind.