Unknown armed men burst on a beach in Cameroon’s border town of Ekok early Thursday and abducted 15 people, according to local authorities.

Witnesses said the victims, all beach workers, were working when heavily armed men held them at gunpoint and took them away to an unknown destination.

Authorities said preliminary results of an investigation indicated that some of the victims were Nigerians who regularly operate in the town that shares boundary with Nigeria.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Ekok is located in Cameroon’s English-speaking region of Southwest that has been ravaged by a separatist conflict for four years.

Armed separatists are known to be operating in the town that also serves as their main route to Nigeria, according to security reports.

Source: Xinhuanet