South Sudan Civil War Foes Head for Peace Talks

South Sudan's warring rivals headed for the latest round of peace talks Friday, with government negotiators saying they were "optimistic" of a deal despite fighting continuing.

"We are going there with high hopes," Information Minister Michael Makuei and government delegation chief told reporters as they left for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Seven previous ceasefire deals have failed.

"We are going there with the hope of coming back with peace to the people of South Sudan," he added.

Rebel negotiators were reported to have already arrived in Ethiopia.

Fighting continued in the northern Upper Nile state, Makuei said, warning that rebel forces were splintering -- making any negotiations increasingly complicated.

"There is a split in the rebel ranks, and this split may have an effect... we need to know with whom are we going to negotiate," he said.

Regional bloc IGAD has set a March 5 deadline for Kiir and Machar to reach a final peace agreement, but previous deadlines have been repeatedly ignored despite the threat of sanctions.

The rivals have agreed to set up a transitional unity government to take power by July 9.

Fighting broke out in South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup.

Over two dozen armed forces -- including government soldiers and allied militia backed by Ugandan soldiers on one side, and a range of rebel factions on the other -- have been battling it out for the last 14 months despite numerous ceasefire agreements.

The U.N. estimates that 2.5 million people are in a state of emergency or crisis, just steps short of famine.

No overall death toll for the war has been kept by the government, rebels or the U.N., but the International Crisis Group estimates that at least 50,000 people have been killed.