The Philippine government imposed on Wednesday a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Libya because of the ongoing attack by Khalifa Haftar's forces on Tripoli.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the indefinite ban would affect new Libya-bound workers and even Filipinos scheduled to return there after work breaks.

The deployment ban was imposed after the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Monday raised the threat level in Libya's capital to 3 and urged Filipinos and their dependents in Tripoli and outlying areas to consider leaving temporarily to avoid getting caught in the fighting, Bloomberg reported.

There are more than 2,600 Filipinos in Libya, many working as nurses, teachers and oil industry workers, reports say.

The embassy of the Philippines in Tripoli called on its nationals last January to be careful as clashes have been frequently taking place in Tripoli.

Haftar's attack in Tripoli has rounded up a week now and clashes are still ongoing in different southern Tripoli areas with reported indiscriminate shelling on residential areas coming from Qasir Benghashir where Haftar's forces are located currently.