NAIROBI (AFP) - Five Dutch women participating in a charity project in western Kenya were gang-raped and robbed of their valuables, police said Monday.

The women, aged between 17 and 26, were attacked last Thursday in a school in Kakamega, around 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, Western Province police chief Francis Munyambu told AFP.

He said the women were in Kenya to participate in a school building project.

"We understand they were gang-raped by a gang of about 10 men," Munyambu said, adding that two security guards at the project, a guide and a driver had been arrested.

"The guards who were on duty at the time said they were tied up and beaten before the gangsters proceeded to the house where the women were sleeping, but we believe these guards are accomplices," he added.

The gang also stole satellite phones, cameras, money and other valuables.