Niarobi - Kenyan authorities on Tuesday intercepted 16 elephant tusks and two rhino horns being illegally exported to Laos from Mozambique.

The trophies weighing almost 300kg were seized at the country's main Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement.

Poaching for elephant and rhino tusks has been on the rise in Africa since the 2007 partial lifting of an international trade ban to allow a one-off sale to China and Japan by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, KWS said.