LONDON - The British Ministry of Defence has, since 2012, trained troops from at least eight nations that have been witness to recent military coups, new evidence from the London-based charity Action on Armed Violence has revealed, according to the London based Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).
These international cadets were attendees of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), where all officers of the British Army are trained.
The international troops came from Mali, Niger, Egypt, Thailand, Burundi, Sudan, Chad, and Gabon – all countries that have witnessed military coups since 2012.
According to the analysis of two freedom of information requests from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), as many as 1,123 overseas cadets were trained in Sandhurst between 2012 and 2022. In total, cadets at the officer training academy have come from at least 61 countries since 2012.
A comparison of those nations with a global coup dataset compiled by American researchers Powell and Thyne shows that eight countries that have sent military cadets for British army training since 2012 have also gone on to witness military coups.
