DAMASCUS, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Monday pledged to protect civilians during its latest offensive in the south, state news agency SANA reported.
The Syrian army said in a statement that it is committed to protecting the civilians from the "crimes" of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the rebel-held areas in southern Syria.
It charged that the ultra-radical groups are targeting civilians, and military positions while blocking the government's efforts to reach reconciliation with the rebel groups which want to cooperate with the government.
The army, meanwhile, stressed its determination to confront the Nusra Front in cooperation with the citizens in the Daraa and Sweida provinces in southern Syria.
This comes as the Syrian army has started the first stage of a wide-scale offensive against the rebel-held areas in the east and northeast of Daraa and the west of Sweida.
The statement vowed to recapture all the rebel-held areas, as the military operations in Daraa and Sweida have caused "a state of confusion and collapse" among the rebels.
The Syrian army has been preparing for operations to liberate the countryside of Daraa, Sweida, and Quneitra in southern Syria, after fully securing the capital Damascus and its suburbs over the past few months.
But the situation is complex, as the areas in southern Syria such as the Daraa province, near Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, are included in the de-escalation zones under an internationally-backed ceasefire agreement.
However, the Islamic State (IS) group still holds some pockets in Sweida and has allied militant groups in Daraa, which links Damascus to the Jordanian border.
