After fighting bravely in battlefields around the world for nearly three centuries, Nepal's fearsome Gurkha soldiers are now taking on an unlikely adversary - the Maoist rulers of their Himalayan nation.

The famous fighters are on the warpath after the ultraleft government of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, suddenly announced plans to stop the recruitment of Gurkhas by foreign armies.

While Britain has a relatively small contingent of 3,000 Gurkhas deployed in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan, the Indian army, significantly, has 40,000 in its ranks along with 20,000 in the para-military forces.

Salaries and pensions remitted by India's Ministry of Defence have traditionally provided a steady source of income for soldiers' families otherwise unthinkable in this backward and predominantly agricultural land.

Ex-servicemen and their dependants are also entitled to free treatment in Indian military hospitals.

But Prachanda recently branded Gurkhas donning Indian battle fatigues mercenaries, and vowed to stamp out what he described as a terribly shameful and humiliating practice that no self-respecting Nepali would tolerate.