MANILA, Philippines, April 10, (Agencies): The Philippine government on Wednesday imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Libya because of fighting between rival militias for control of the North African nation’s capital, the labor chief said. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the indefinite ban would affect new Libya-bound workers and even Filipinos scheduled to return there after work breaks.

There are more than 2,600 Filipinos in Libya, many working as nurses, teachers and oil industry workers. Fighting for control of the capital has threatened to plunge Libya deeper into chaos and ignite civil war on the scale of the 2011 NATO-supported uprising, which turned into a ruinous confl ict that killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

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.