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A British soldier has been killed while off duty in Kenya, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.
Maj Kevin McCool, 32, was attacked while he was on a motorcycle trip off base.
Officials said the soldier’s next of kin have been informed, but would not be releasing any details of what happened.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps described Mr McCool as an “exceptional person”.
His commanding officer describing him as a “man of the utmost integrity” as he said Mr McCool “ was fearless and oozed moral courage”.
In a touching tribute, he added: “I will never forget my final memory of him, which was on operations; he had just come off the ground having slept a handful of hours in as many days.
“We discussed the possibility of having to deploy another team into the operational furnace from which he had just come. He stopped me mid-sentence, fixed me with his piercing blue eyes, and simply said, ‘send me’.”
And his officer commanding added that his “eyes shone with his spirit of adventure”.
Grant Shapps said it is “clear from the tributes of those who knew him that Major McCool was an exceptional person and an exceptional soldier”.
The defence secretary said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with his family, friends, and colleagues currently coming to terms with this most tragic loss.”
The MoD said Mr McCool’s fitness was legendary, describing how he “aced” many of the military’s hardest tests.
He is survived by his mother and father, Joseph and Joan, his brothers, Fergal and Brendan, his sisters, May, Alice and Margaret.
More follows on this breaking news story…