Seven people have been arrested over the high-profile stabbing deaths of two children after dawn raids in Melbourne on Friday.

The arrests came almost a fortnight after Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akeng, 15, died after being attacked while walking home at Cobblebank in Melbourne’s outer north-west.

The pair were among a group who had watched a basketball game together, before being ambushed by masked males armed with machetes and other bladed weapons.

Another boy walking with the victims managed to escape the suspected gang members.

On Friday morning, Victoria Police raided about a dozen properties across Melbourne’s outer-west, north-west and north with assistance of the VIPER youth gang taskforce.

Homicide Squad detectives arrested seven teenagers, including a 19-year-old Thornhill Park man, a 19-year-old Caroline Springs man and an 18-year-old Wollert man.

Three 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy, all from the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, were also arrested.

All seven were being interviewed by Victoria Police on Friday afternoon.

No charges have yet been laid.

Dau Akeng, 15 (left), and 12-year-old Chol Achiek were killed in a brutal attack. Photos: Supplied

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien said the arrests were the result of almost two weeks of diligent and thorough police work after the tragic deaths.

“The word senseless has been used so many times already in relation to the deaths of Dau Akueng and Chol Achiek, because the reality is that it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

“Two children walking home after playing sport, who should have had decades of their lives ahead of them.

“Instead, their devastated families are grieving their loss and all the things they will never get to see two children grow up to achieve and experience.”

Detective Inspector Graham Banks previously said the attack had the “hallmarks of a youth gang crime”.

Police said neither of the dead boys was a gang member.

Dau’s father, Elbino Akueng, said his son “was a basketball player, not a criminal”.

A GoFundMe page set up after the deaths said Dau grew up in the flats in Fitzroy and Collingwood, playing and refereeing for the Collingwood Basketball Association.

He also played for the Wolfpack Basketball Club after his family moved to the city’s outer west.

Chol was a member of the Nile Warriors Basketball Club. His father, Chuti Ngong, told mourners at a vigil his son was a peaceful boy who was loved by everybody.

CCTV footage from the scene showed a group of three males chasing a boy and attacking him on the ground, with his screams calling a woman to his aid.

The impact of boys’ deaths has been felt right across the Victorian community, police said.

“I know many people will be feeling shocked, frustrated and concerned in light of this matter,” O’Brien said.

“I want to reassure you that locally, police will have increased patrols in the area and are working closely with community groups.”

The Victorian government reconvened a South Sudanese Australian youth justice expert working group in response to the deaths.

The arrests were a “good thing” after almost two weeks of “excruciating pain” for the victim’s families, Victorian minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.

“This has absolutely been a heartbreaking chapter,” she told reporters.

Opposition police spokesman David Southwick said the boys’ deaths should never have happened.

“[The families] need closure and the sooner that those individuals who were responsible for this face the full force of the law, the better I think it is for everybody,” he said.

-AAP