British Army Training Unit Kenya

Did You Know?

• The International Peace Support Training Centre in Nairobi County receives about 30% of its course funding from Britain, including improvised explosive device disposal training.
• In December 2015, a Kenyan parliamentary report accused British troops of widespread killings, sexual abuse, and human rights and environmental violations, describing them as an 'occupying force'.
• Kenya amended its defence pact in 2024 to allow local prosecutions, and in 2025 the UK agreed to a £2.9 million settlement for thousands of claimants.

Current status

These exercises are managed by BATUK from Nyati Barracks in Nanyuki, 200 km north of Nairobi. Britain also provides training opportunities in the UK to the Kenyan military and conducts joint exercises with the Kenya Defence Forces. Between 2019 and 2021, five joint training exercises involving approximately 600 Kenyan troops and 4,500 British troops were held at BATUK. In July 2026, the UK MOD cancelled the planned six-week exercise Haraka Storm after the Kenyan government delayed issuing necessary licences. Since 2013, British soldiers have worked with Kenyan anti-poaching groups against illegal wildlife crime, providing training to the Kenyan Wildlife Service, Kenyan Forestry Service, and Mount Kenya Trust. In 2013, the British Secretary of State for the Environment announced that the British High Commission had helped establish Kenya's Wildlife Crime Taskforce.

Target of crime

BATUK has been a target for theft and break-ins by the local Kenyan population. In 2016, an SA80 assault rifle stolen from British soldiers on exercise was used to murder a Kenyan police chief; the weapon had been reported missing a month earlier. In 2021, a BATUK representative disclosed that Kenyan Police were investigating the theft of two British Army Land Rovers and associated equipment worth millions of pounds from the Nanyuki base. Three Kenyan men were arrested in 2020 for attempting to break into the base, hours after an attack on a US Army base in Kenya by al-Shabaab militants killed three Americans.

Crimes and injuries

British soldiers in Kenya have been involved in criminal acts including alleged murder, child kidnapping, and environmental damage, though no British personnel have ever been charged or convicted, leading to diplomatic disputes. In September 2015, talks between former British Prime Minister David Cameron and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta resulted in an agreement that British soldiers would be tried in Kenya but not necessarily under Kenyan law, and that British military sites would be subject to Kenyan inspection. In 2013, a British Army sergeant fatally shot an armed Kenyan man, Tilam Leresh, whom he believed was intruding to commit theft; the sergeant was confined to barracks for seven months before being removed from the country. A British soldier reportedly posted on Snapchat about causing a fire and killing an elephant, though the Kenya Wildlife Service said no elephants died. Three helicopters, a crop-sprayer aircraft, and four water tanker trucks from BATUK helped fight the blaze, and the UK High Commissioner in Nairobi expressed regret.

Unexploded ordnance

Kenyan civilians have been maimed or killed by unexploded ordnance from British army exercises, which are conducted with Kenyan authority agreement. Land is routinely searched after training, but the British government contends injuries occur when civilians illegally encroach onto marked areas; unexploded ordnance may also be left by the Kenyan Army. In June 1985, BATUK returned a scrap vehicle used for target practice to Kenyan mechanic Jaffer Mohamed without warning it contained UXO; Britain's high commissioner said Mohamed was hammering a discarded mortar fuse when it exploded, leaving a wife and four children. In 2002, the UK Ministry of Defence agreed to pay £4.5 million in compensation to 228 Kenyan civilians injured or bereaved by UXO, with further payouts authorised in 2004. In 2007, Robert Swara Seurei died after igniting a piece of plastic explosive he found while clearing debris for BATUK, believing it was a candle. UK defence minister James Heappey cited language barriers, inadequate supervision, premature removal of safety posts, and incorrect fitting of a safety fuse as contributing factors. In November 2015, a 10-year-old boy in Samburu was injured by UK ordnance; an MOD spokesperson said BATUK troops administered first aid and airlifted the boy with consent, rejecting allegations by Kenyan MPs that he was abducted to cover up the incident.