The Philippines will dispatch cargo planes and a ship to help evacuate Filipino migrant workers from Iraq after ordering its citizens to leave following an Iranian missile strike targeting US troops, officials said yesterday.

Manila issued the mandatory evacuation order for its nationals after the Islamic republic carried out its first act of promised revenge for the US killing last week of a top Iranian general.

About 1,600 Filipino workers are in Iraq—among some two million of their countrymen across the Middle East—as part of a vast diaspora that is a key pillar of the economy.