Two members of the Defence Forces caught up in a suspected jihadist terror attack in West Africa have been reported safe and unharmed.

The Defence Forces say all of its members have been accounted for following a terror attack in Mali.

An official said the stoning was carried out by Ansar Dine extremists.

French forces fighting extremism in Africa's Sahel region said they have killed at least 20 jihadists in a forest on the border between Mali and Burkina Faso.

Forces in Mali have arrested an al Qaida-linked extremist who was living in a neighbourhood near the country's international airport.

Police in Mali say extremists have attacked an EU military training mission headquarters in the capital.

French forces in Mali have killed about 10 extremists and recovered arms and explosives after heavy fighting in the country’s north near Niger.

A mortar attack on a United Nations base in northern Mali has left at least three people dead, including two peace-keepers and a contractor.

Malian special forces have arrested two men over an attack on a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako which killed 19 people.

The assault on a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital that killed 19 people was a clear attempt to derail a fragile peace process meant to stabilise the country’s volatile north, a representative of northern separatist groups have said.

Islamic extremists who killed 19 people in a gun attack on a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital timed their assault to catch security officers off-guard, according to witnesses.

Authorities in Mali are looking for at least three suspects after an attack on a hotel left 19 civilians dead.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said “a chill went around the room” at a meeting of EU ministers as they were told of the attack in Mali.

Suspected Islamist gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital yesterday, firing automatic weapons and seizing more than 100 guests and staff in a hostage-taking incident that left at least 27 people dead.

At least 19 people died when Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades stormed the Radisson hotel in Mali’s capital.

Islamic extremists armed with guns and grenades stormed the hotel in the west African country's capital, with security forces later freeing guests floor-by-floor.

The Taoiseach is advising Irish citizens not to travel to Mali following an attack by Islamic extremists today.

Latest: There are no more hostages left in the luxury hotel attacked by gunmen in Mali, according to state TV. Twenty-seven people are reported to be dead.

An alleged Islamic extremist charged with being involved in the destruction of religious buildings in Timbuktu has been arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court to face justice.

Jihadists stormed a hotel where United Nations staff were staying in central Mali, seizing hostages and killing at least five Malian soldiers in one of the most brazen attacks in months, the government said.

Jihadists have stormed two hotels in central Mali, seizing at least six hostages and killing three Malian soldiers and a UN peacekeeper in one of the most brazen attacks in months, defence officials said.

A Dutch hostage kidnapped in Mali in 2011 has been rescued in a French special forces operation, the military says.

Two peacekeepers from the Netherlands have been killed in a helicopter crash in Mali.

Poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash of an Air Algerie flight in the West African state of Mali that killed 118 people on board, French officials said.