On 5 July, Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub personally inspected the troops in northern Latakia that were preparing the awaited government offensive. At midnight, heavy clashes between government forces and Islamist fighters took place around the Turkmen Mountain, while airplanes bombed the village of Kabani. On 6 July, government units reportedly repelled another al-Nusra attack on their positions. Furthermore, the 144th Regiment of the Syrian Army, which is skilled in guerilla warfare according to Farsnews, was deployed to northern Latakia.