Ireland has been named in an Interpol report as being a location for the flow of foreign jihadists and African Rhino horn smuggling.

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.

Thousands of social media posts of suspected Islamic extremists living in Ireland are being viewed every week, security sources have told the Irish Examiner.

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.