The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is advising Filipinos not to travel to Timor-Leste, following Timorese rebels' fresh wave of attacks against civilians and government troops, a DFA report said here on Sunday.

"Filipinos are barred from traveling to East Timor at this time because of the unstable security situation there," undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. of the DFA's Migrant Workers' Affairs Office was quoted as saying.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo has directed the Embassy in Dili, the capital of the country to prevent the entry of Filipinos after a group of rebels opened fire on unarmed members of the U.N. peacekeepers during an evacuation of civilians, Conejos said.

The DFA is conducting a full assessment of the security situation in the former Portuguese colony, according to Conejos.

The department also asked Filipinos residing in Timor-Leste to remain indoors and to maintain constant communication with the Embassy for further advice, the report said.

The latest violence in Timor-Leste on Thursday killed nine U.N. police officers and injured several others, as the U.N. peacekeepers were evacuating civilians from the police headquarters in Dili.

Source: Xinhua