East African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa Thursday in the latest push for peace in war-torn South Sudan, where almost three months of conflict has left thousands dead

East African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa Thursday in the latest push for peace in war-torn South Sudan, where almost three months of conflict has left thousands dead.
  
Leaders from the East African bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), gathered in the Ethiopian capital to "deliberate on the current situation in the Republic of South Sudan", a statement read.
  
South Sudanese media said President Salva Kiir is due to attend, but no direct talks between Kiir's government and the rebels were due to take place until next week.
  
Ministers met late Wednesday ahead of the main summit, including officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya ,  Somalia , Sudan , South  Sudan and  Uganda. Officials discussed a report from Seyoum Mesfin, IGAD's chief mediator to slow-moving peace talks, the bloc said in a statement.
  
South Sudan's government has been at war with rebel groups since December 15, when a clash between troops loyal to Kiir and those loyal to sacked vice president Riek Machar snowballed into full-scale fighting across the world's newest nation.
  

Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, who said he is to attend the meeting, said that "the IGAD summit is intended to tackle means of implementing previous agreements and the deployment of peacekeeping forces to South Sudan."
  
The two sides signed an IGAD-brokered ceasefire agreement on January 23, but heavy fighting has continued.
  
Stalled peace talks in Ethiopia between rebels and the government, which have made little progress, are due to resume on March 20. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn this week said the peace process was "going very slow, but it is going in the right direction."