The United States on Monday issued a security alert after heavy gunfire was heard near its embassy in Haiti, the impoverished Caribbean country engulfed by escalating gang violence.
“US government personnel have paused all official movement outside the embassy compound,” the State Department said in a statement, advising people to avoid the Tabarre area of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with swathes of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said last month at least 3,141 people have been killed in the first half of this year as gang violence further destabilizes the nation.
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© Agence France-Presse
