The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has requested the Security Council to deploy an additional force of more than 1,000 personnel to help protect civilians in South Sudan.

Mr. Ban recommended that 500 additional military troops and 600 police officers should be deployed in the country despite the signing of the peace agreement.

The forces will be deployed along with 13 helicopters and transport planes to quickly move peacekeepers across the country.

There are already more than 12,000 UN forces in South Sudan, including police, troops and military liaison officers.

In a report to the Security Council, Mr Ban also requested for an upgraded medical facility in Juba to provide essential emergency services.

He also requested for a field hospital in the Unity State capital, Bentiu, where nearly 100,000 people have taken refuge at the U.N. base.

There are about 180,000 people sheltering in UN bases across the country. The fled their homes since the outbreak of the conflict in December 2013.