Washington DC - The US on Monday issued a security alert after heavy gunfire erupted near its embassy in Haiti, with the impoverished Caribbean country engulfed by escalating gang violence.

Residents of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, confirmed to AFP that prolonged exchanges of fire were heard as gangs and police clashed in the Tabarre area, where the embassy is located, near the airport.

"US government personnel have paused all official movement outside the embassy compound," the State Department said in a statement.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with swaths of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes, and kidnappings.

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At least 3,141 people have been killed in the first half of this year as gang violence further destabilizes the nation, according to figures released last month by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

With political turmoil also deepening, police said Monday they had arrested a former senator wanted for alleged conspiracy against the state, financing criminal groups, and complicity in murder.