Casualties Overview

In 2016, the Monitor did not record any new mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Kenya. Monitor media scanning identified four improvised explosive device (IED) casualties in one incident that may have been caused by a mine, however these casualties have not been included in the global total for 2016 as it was not clear if the device was an improvised landmine (victim-activated IED) or if remote means of activation were used. In the incident, an off duty ambulance was reported to have “hit an IED, which was hanging from a tree,” or “ran over a home-made bomb” killing the driver of the vehicle and injuring the three passengers.[1] Throughout 2016, the media reported frequent security forces casualties from “landmines” attributed to non-state armed groups; however, the means of detonation was not recorded and those casualties have therefore not been included in the total.[2]

In 2015, a 10-year-old boy was injured by unexploded ordnance within a live-fire range near Wamba.[3] The number of annual recorded casualties has remained low in recent years (one in 2015, seven in 2014, none in 2013, and one in 2012). Most casualties have been children and young men. In 2011, 29 new mine/ERW casualties were identified in Kenya, including 22 children.[4]

The Monitor has recorded 124 mine/ERW casualties in Kenya between 1999 and the end of 2016 (45 people killed and 79 injured).[5] Casualty figures are likely incomplete because there is no systematic casualty data collection mechanism in Kenya. In addition, 228 Masai and Samburu tribespeople identified as injured by unexploded ordnance (UXO) in training areas used by the British army made an out of court settlement with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence in 2002.[6] In 2004, another 1,046 Kenyans reportedly injured by UXO were identified in a claim that was also compensated ex gratia by the UK Ministry of Defense.[7]