Nairobi - At least 24 people have been killed in clashes between members of the public and the banned Mungiki sect in Central Kenya, police said Tuesday.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told the German Press Agency dpa that fighting broke out on Monday evening in and around the town of Karatina, around 100 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi.

The police arrested 34 people on Tuesday night then discovered the bodies early Tuesday morning, Kiraithe said.

It was not clear how many of the dead were members of the banned sect and how many were members of the public.

The Mungiki, who are mainly from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe, was banned in 2002.

However, the quasi-religious gang has continued to operate, specializing in extorting money from matatus - small public transport minibuses that operate across the country.

However, there have been increasing reports recently of members of the public fighting back against them.

"In recent times there has been a lot of conflict with members of public and the gang who are extorting money and threatening small traders with violence," said Kiraithe. "There have been clashes in the neighbouring district."

The Mungiki was outlawed after widespread clashes with matatu drivers led to dozens of deaths.

The police launched a crackdown on the Mungiki in 2007 after the gang began beheading matatu drivers and people accused of being informants.

Subsequent raids in Nairobi's Mathare slum saw more than 100 suspected Mungiki members killed.

Human rights bodies such as Amnesty International say the police have persistently carried out extra-judicial killings of suspected Mungiki members.