Nairobi/New York  - The United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions on Sudanese officials who authorized "scorched earth" attacks that saw hundreds of civilians killed in West Darfur, independent body Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.

"The destruction of town after town in West Darfur shows that Khartoum has no qualms about committing the same atrocities that we saw earlier in the Darfur conflict," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at HRW.

The body said that the UN should bring new targeted sanctions, enforce existing sanctions and ensure that the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) had enough resources to protect civilians from attack.

In a report based on interviews with witnesses, HRW said that Sudanese armed forces and government-backed Janjaweed militia in February killed hundreds of civilians and looted and destroyed homes in several towns and villages in rebel-held West Darfur.

According to HRW, aircraft bombed civilian targets before the Janjaweed rode in and indiscriminately targeted civilians.

The attacks also displaced 40,000 people, many of whom have still not returned home, HRW said.

HRW said that despite initial condemnation, the international response to the attacks had been "appallingly muted" and that the UN Security Council had taken no serious action. (dpa)