[PA Media]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A UK soldier has been accused of raping a woman near a British army training camp in Kenya where another soldier has previously been accused of murder.<\/p>\n
The alleged rape happened last month close to the British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) near the town of Nanyuki, 200km (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi.<\/p>\n
The man was arrested and questioned following the alleged incident after a group of soldiers visited a bar in the town.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement that a “service person” had been arrested in Kenya.<\/p>\n
“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 MoD said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times reported in 2021 that a British soldier was believed to have been responsible for her murder.<\/p>\n
The MoD has since said it is cooperating with a Kenyan investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n
The Batuk base was established in 1964 shortly after the East African nation gained independence from the UK.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But the British army has faced a string of allegations about the conduct of some UK personnel at the camp.<\/p>\n
A public inquiry set up by Kenyan MPs last year heard details of alleged mistreatment of local people<\/a> by British soldiers.<\/p>\n The allegations including a reported hit-and-run incident, and claims that some British soldiers had got local women pregnant before abandoning them and their children when they returned to the UK.<\/p>\nYou may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n