Guatemala's president has declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused the groups of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons.

The killings occurred in the Guatemalan capital and surrounding areas a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in the three prisons across the country to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower-security facilities.

President Bernardo Arevalo said authorities had retaken control of all three prisons on Sunday.

Hours earlier, Guatemala's police announced the deaths of eight of its officers "in the line of duty at the hands of criminals".

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda said the killings were carried out "by these terrorists, in response to the actions the Guatemalan state is taking against them."

Ten other police officers were wounded in the retaliatory attacks, and one suspected gang member was killed, he said.

Arevalo's state-of-emergency decree on Sunday, which starts immediately, must be approved by the opposition-controlled Congress and includes the suspension of the right of assembly and permits individuals to be arrested and interrogated without a court order.

The president of Congress, opposition leader Luis Contreras, called for unity to face "one of the most painful and challenging moments" in the country's history, with schools shut on Monday.

At dawn on Sunday, police supported by the army entered the Renovacion I maximum-security prison in Escuintla, about 75 kilometres south of Guatemala City, using armoured vehicles and tear gas.

After 15 minutes, they managed to regain control of the prison and freed guards being held hostage, with Villeda saying "it was an operation that unfolded without casualties on either side, and we managed to rescue the nine hostages that these terrorists had in their power".

The interior ministry published a video on X showing officers handcuffing and leading away the alleged leader in Guatemala of the Barrio 18 gang, whom authorities identified as Aldo Dupie, alias "El Lobo" (The Wolf).

He had bloodstained clothing.

Barrio 18 and its rival gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) are blamed for much of the drug trafficking and criminal violence that plague the Central American country.

Washington has declared both groups to be terrorist organisations.

Guatemala's homicide rate in 2025 was 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the global average. (AFP)