Kenyan police have arrested "several" suspects in connection with the twin attacks on the coastal town of Mpeketoni in which at least 60 people were killed, officials have said.

The assault on the town of Mpeketoni late on Sunday, and a nearby village the following night left at least 60 dead, were claimed by Somalia's al-Shabab but blamed by the president on local political networks.

"We have arrested several suspects in connection to Mpeketoni incident including the owner and driver of one the vehicles used by [the] attackers," Kenya's police chief David Kimaiyo said on Wednesday.

"More suspects including leaders are being interrogated."

Despite an immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attacks from al-Shabab, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta instead blamed "local political networks" along with an "opportunist network of other criminal gangs".