The Cameroonian army said Monday that it has intercepted a boat carrying “mercenaries” in the high sea off Idenau in the southwest region of the African country.

“They were intercepted by Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR). There were about 200 of them with five different nationalities including Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali etc.,” the army said in a statement released late Monday.

“They are actually being held by the police in Idenau. They are mercenaries and have neither identity cards nor passports,” the statement added.

Cameroon has been troubled with conflicts between government forces and armed separatists in the two English-speaking southwest and northwest regions. The separatists intend to create a new nation called “Ambazonia.”

Xinhua