Twenty-two soldiers and civilians have been detained in Mali in an investigation that uncovered "containers with new weapons", the national police chief said Wednesday.

The detentions come amid lingering tensions in the west African country following last month's coup, which led to the ouster of leader Amadou Toumani Toure.

"We are talking about 22 people (including) 11 civilians, one of them a banker, ... and 11 members of the military," picked up over the past 48 hours, Colonel Diamou Keita told public ORTM television. "During searches in a number of homes, containers with new weapons were found."

He did not identify those arrested.

Keita said the weapons were not of the type normally held by the country's armed forces.

Television footage showed assault rifles and their ammunition clips.