At least three suspects are being hunted over a hotel attack in Mali that left at least 19 civilians dead.
Two militants were killed after Islamist extremists with guns and grenades stormed a luxury hotel in Mali.
The country's president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita confirmed the civilian deaths, which include an American health worker, a Malian soldier, a Belgian local government officer and three Chinese railway executives.
Russia's foreign ministry said Russian people are also among the dead, but was waiting on "reliable information" before confirming the number of its citizens killed.
President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Mali over the attack, as a security source told the AFP news agency some suspects were still at large.
Seven people were injured, including at least two Malian police officers. There were 126 people successfully helped to safety.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Irish people not to travel to the country, while Taoiseach Enda Kenny says the 10 Irish Defence Forces personnel currently based in Mali under an EU programme are safe and unharmed.
Mali's president cut short a visit to Chad and declared a 10-day state of emergency, while French president Francois Hollande said France would "yet again stand firm and show our solidarity" with its former colony, promising to send extra troops to boost the 1,000 currently there.
US president Barack Obama says the "barbarity" shown by Islamic extremists at the hotel was yet another reminder that the "scourge of terrorism" threatens many nations and that the attack "only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge".
Attack
Around 10 men armed with guns and grenades entered the Radisson Blu in the country's capital of Bamako at around 7am local time on Friday, shouting and screaming "Allahu Akbar", which means "God Is great" in Arabic.
Witnesses reported seeing some of the men approach the hotel in a car, wearing dark suits and sunglasses.
They opened fire on security guards before raiding the building and taking more than 150 people hostage.
The hostages also included 20 Indians, seven Algerians, six Americans and two Germans who have all been rescued along with three of 10 Chinese nationals.
The Malian forces moved "floor by floor" rescuing people, assisted by elite US and French troops, according to witnesses.
One of the freed hostages, a singer from Guinea, said he heard attackers in the next room speaking English.
"I heard them say in English 'Did you load it?', 'Let's go'," Sékouba 'Bambino' Diabate told Reuters.
Al Mourabitoun, an African jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The hotel is popular with airline staff, western tourists and local dignitaries and the hotel group's president Wolfgang Neumann said: "We are devastated at what has happened at Bamako today."
