A British soldier accused of raping a woman near a controversial army camp in Kenya has been sent back to the United Kingdom (UK) as investigations continue.
The alleged rape happened last month close to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) near the town of Nanyuki, 200km north of Nairobi.
The man was arrested by the UK military and questioned following the alleged incident, which occurred after a group of soldiers visited a bar in the town.
An investigation is being carried out by UK military police from the defence serious crime unit, which looks into crimes allegedly committed by British service personnel in the UK and overseas.
The UK ministry of defence has confirmed in a statement that a “service person” had been arrested in Kenya.
“Unacceptable and criminal behaviour has absolutely no place in our Armed Forces and any reporting of a serious crime by serving personnel is investigated independently from their chain of command,” the ministry says.
The alleged rape involving a soldier from the British base in Kenya follows previous allegations that a soldier stationed in Kenya was involved in the murder of a local woman in 2012.
The body of Agnes Wanjiru, who was 21 and a mother of one, was found in a septic tank near the Batuk base three weeks after she disappeared, allegedly after spending the evening with British soldiers.
The UK-based Sunday Times newspaper reported in 2021 that a British soldier was believed to have been responsible for her murder.
The defence ministry has since said it was co-operating with a Kenyan investigation into the incident.
The Batuk base was established in 1964 shortly after the East African nation gained independence from the UK.
The UK military has an agreement with Kenya under which it can deploy up to six army battalions a year for periods of training at the site.
But the British army has faced a string of allegations about the conduct of some UK personnel at the camp.
A public inquiry set up by Kenyan parliamentarians last year heard details of alleged mistreatment of local people by British soldiers.
The allegations included a reported hit-and-run incident, as well as claims that some British soldiers impregnated local women before abandoning them and their children when they returned to the UK.
– BBC
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