Syria claims it will halt violence by Thursday morning but "remain on alert" (CBS/AP) Syria's government said Wednesday it would halt military operations against rebels by Thursday morning, but warned it would "remain on alert" to confront future threats. "After our armed forces carried out successful missions in combating the criminal acts of terrorist groups and imposed the authority of the state on its land, (it has been) decided to end operations starting tomorrow morning," Syrian state television, citing defense ministry sources, flashed in an alert, according to Reuters. "Our armed forces remain on alert to confront any assault by armed groups against civilians and the security and armed forces," it continued. The statement made no specific mention of international envoy Kofi Annan's 6 a.m. Thursday deadline for halting all violence, but Annan said he had been informed by the Syrian government that it will "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory" by the deadline. Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a statement Wednesday that the letter from Syria's foreign minister said the government reserves "the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups against civilians, government forces or public and private property." President Bashar Assad's regime has previously promised to end its crackdown, most recently pledging to pull its military out of population centers by Tuesday, only to seek new terms for a cease-fire. Syria's opposition and other world leaders have typically reacted to the government's claims with skepticism. Fawzi said Annan will continue to work with the Syrian government on implementation of his six-point plan to end the more than yearlong conflict in which more than 9,000 people have been killed, according to the U.N. There was more violence on Wednesday, prior to the announcement. Syrian troops took control of large parts of villages and towns near the border with Turkey. Syrian state-run news agency SANA said gunmen shot and killed army Brig. Gen. Jamal Khaled in the Damascus suburb of Aqraba on Wednesday morning. It added that Khaled's driver, a soldier, was also killed in the attack. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group reported clashes in the Barada Valley region on the outskirts of Damascus between troops and army defectors as government forces stormed the area. The Observatory said dozens of people were wounded. Activist Fares Mohammed said two people were killed and dozens wounded when government troops stormed and shelled Barada valley as well as damaging tens of homes. "Many of the wounded lost limbs as a result of shelling by tanks," he said. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, reported shelling of several rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs. The Observatory said "tens of army vehicles" are deploying in the southern town of Maaraba. The Observatory added that two people were killed in the eastern town of Qoriah during raids by regime force. Activist Mohammed Abu Nasr said Syrian forces entered the border town of Azaz, about two miles (three kilometers) from the Turkish border and set homes of activists on fire. The LCC said heavy army reinforcements of 30 vehicles, including tanks, took positions around Azaz without giving further details. The group said that in the province of Idlib, which also borders Turkey, Syrian troops chased people trying to flee the country into Turkey and opened fire killing two and detaining four. In Homs, activist Tarek Badrakhan said troops heavily bombed late Tuesday the Rajoub Mall, one of the city's largest, destroying it. He said the mall, in the rebel-held neighborhood of Jouret el-Shayah, had shops selling goods such as clothes, food products and electrical appliances. "They shelled it for a long time until it totally collapsed," Badrakhan said. An amateur video posted online showed the six-story building gutted by fire while a major part of it collapsed. As the building was on fire, gunshots could be heard. In neighboring Jordan, an interior ministry official said the country was now hosting 95,000 Syrian refugees who had fled the conflict. The official spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to make statements to the media.