Martyn Day told reporters in London that his clients were altogether seeking up to 20 million pounds (28.8 million euros, 33.3 million dollars) in damages from the Ministry of Defence.

Speaking to reporters, he alleged that 2,000-odd troops had been involved in rape "ambushes" in the vicinity of British military bases in Kenya stretching back to 1977.

"These seem to be systematic ambushes on Kenyan women by British soldiers," said Day, who last year won a separate case against the Ministry of Defence concerning deadly unexploded ordnance in Kenya.

Day said he will be seeking between 20,000 and 30,000 pounds in civil damages for each rape victim through the High Court in London. His clients have been granted legal aid to cover their costs.

"I'm absolutely confident we are going to settle this case," said Day, a founder of Leigh, Day and Company, a London-based law firm that specialises in personal injury claims.

The Ministry of Defence refused all comment. "A military police investigation is ongoing, and it would be improper to comment while that investigation is still ongoing," a spokeswoman told AFP.

Thousands of British soldiers from different regiments are sent each year to Kenya -- a former British colony -- for training, under an agreement between London and Nairobi.

The sexual assaults are claimed to have occurred around the villages of Dol Dol, Wamba, Isiolo, and around Archers Post, all in central Kenya.

Some of the women allege that they were subjected to gang-rape by groups of soldiers who treated the attacks virtually as a leisure activity.

Dozens say they have given birth to mixed-race children, who have faced stigmatisation from other tribespeople.

"It's almost as if the British army felt it could throw away its rulebook," Day said.

He said one of the worst incidents, documented during interviews he conducted with alleged victims, occurred near the village of Lekiji in November 1999.

Six local women collecting firewood along a river near the village were said to have been surrounded, then raped by some 18 soldiers from the Gurkha regiment.

The Gurkhas, one of the most celebrated British regiments, recruits its rank and file in Nepal, and includes British commanding officers.

Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, called for a commission of inquiry into the rape claims and criminal prosecutions of individual soldiers.

"Half the allegations are about gang-rape," Irene Khan, Amnesty International's secretary general, told reporters alongside Day.

Khan said she has written to British Prime Minister Tony Blair seeking his support for an official inquiry.

Day said US troops have used British training grounds in Kenya during the past four to five years, but Khan said she was not aware of any rape claims involving them.

Day said he has heard no further rape claims since November, when he informed the British armed forces about his case.

Last year, Day won a 4.5 million pound (7.5 million dollar) settlement for Masai tribespeople killed or injured by unexploded British army ordnance on their land in Kenya's interior.

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