UK army drills to go ahead in Kenya after permit dispute

Britain will go ahead with one of its annual military training exercises in Kenya, both countries announced on Tuesday, after London previously cancelled it over failure to obtain a permit.

Kenya hosts a permanent base for the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) in Laikipia, about 200 kilometres (130 miles) north of Nairobi.

The east African nation became independent from Britain in 1963 but ties remain strong and their defence agreement allows for several thousand British troops to carry out exercises on Kenyan soil each year.

Britain's defence ministry said last week it had not received the necessary licences from the Kenyan government to allow the training exercise to take place later this year.

It said the drills had been relocated to another undisclosed country.

On Tuesday, a British government spokesman told AFP that Nairobi had "agreed to issue the necessary licences and permissions for Exercise HARAKA STORM to take place in Kenya later this year".

Kenya's foreign ministry welcomed the decision, saying: "This outcome reflects the strength of the longstanding partnership between Kenya and the United Kingdom."

Neither country had said what the authorisations in question were or why they had not been issued.

The base provides income for residents living nearby but has also been a source of controversy over the years due to high-profile murder and rape cases involving British soldiers.