(Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Thursday which approved the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping forces to the Darfur region in Sudan, despite the Khartoum government's strong opposition. The 17,000 U.N. peacekeepers will take over the mission from an African Union force. The AU force, strapped by lack of funds, has experienced difficulties in coping with the humanitarian disaster in Darfur. But the UN force will not be deployed without approval from the Sudanese government. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million forced to flee their homes in three years of conflict between the government and several rebel groups in Darfur.