Eight Months After Approval, New U.N. Troops Trickle Into South Sudan

"Deployment of some of the first wave elements of the RPF ... has begun," Guterres told the Security Council in a report, seen by Reuters on Thursday.

While it usually takes several months for the United Nations to get the troop contributions needed for a deployment, the world body has also had to contend with the South Sudanese government's red tape and unwillingness to cooperate.

"It is indeed unfortunate that the first troops associated with the RPF have only begun to arrive eight months after they were initially mandated by the Security Council," Guterres wrote, adding that as of May 15 there were 31 members of the Bangladesh Construction Engineering Company on the ground.

The Security Council had threatened to impose an arms embargo if Kiir's government did not cooperate with the deployment or allow peacekeepers already on the ground to move freely to protect civilians.

But when the United States put the measure to a vote in December it failed to get the nine votes needed to pass.

Guterres told the Security Council that UNMISS "continued to be obstructed and restricted - in some cases encountering aggression from government forces." He also said humanitarian aid deliveries were being hindered.

The United Nations estimates about 3 million South Sudanese - a quarter of the population - have fled their homes, parts of the oil-producing country are in famine and top U.N. officials have warned of a possible genocide.

(Editing by Alistair Bell)