Aug 1 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council has authorized up to 26,000 troops and police for Darfur and approved the use of force to protect civilians in Sudan's arid western region.

Here are some facts about the conflict in the Darfur region.

* THE CONFLICT:

-- Rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region took up arms against the government in February 2003, saying Khartoum discriminated against non-Arab farmers there.

-- Khartoum mobilized proxy Arab militia to help quell the revolt. Some militiamen, known locally as Janjaweed, pillaged and burned villages and killed civilians. The government has called the Janjaweed outlaws and denied supporting them.

-- Experts have estimated that at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes in the region since early 2003, some crossing the border into Chad, exacerbating a refugee crisis there. Sudan says 9,000 have died.

-- The United Nations calls Darfur one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The United States says the violence in Darfur amounts to genocide.

* CEASEFIRES:

-- A ceasefire was agreed in Darfur in April 2004. The African Union sent 7,000 peacekeepers with a mandate to monitor the peace and protect those displaced in the camps. The ceasefire has been violated frequently, with fighting blamed on government troops, rebels and Janjaweed militias.

-- A peace deal in May 2006 was signed by only one of three rebel negotiating factions. It was almost immediately rejected by many in Darfur who said it did not go far enough to ensure their security. A new rebel coalition has since formed and renewed hostilities with the government.

* PEACEKEEPING FORCE FOR DARFUR:

-- In August 2006, the U.N Security Council adopted a resolution for deployment of a "hybrid" U.N.-AU force of 22,500 in Darfur to replace and absorb the present African Union force, which has been unable to stem the violence.

-- Sudan had already agreed to allow an operation involving technical U.N. support personnel to deploy to Darfur. The "heavy support package" included some 3,500 U.N. military and police personnel.

-- The new operation, called the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur, or UNAMID, will absorb the 7,000 African Union troops currently in Darfur. It is expected to cost more than $2 billion in the first year.

-- The operation will consist of up to 19,555 military personnel, including 360 military observers and liaison officers, and an appropriate civilian component including up to 3,772 police personnel and 19 formed police units comprising up to 140 personnel each.

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