On 5 March, the Bosnian Serb TO requested equipment for two companies mobilised in villages around Kupres—Malovan, Rilić and Ravno. The mobilisation was motivated by poor military intelligence provided by the 30th Partisan Division. It indicated the presence of thousands of HV and Bosnian Croat troops in the vicinity of Kupres, supported by Leopard 1 tanks drawn from a contingent of approximately 100 Leopards that the JNA believed had been delivered to Croatia. In response, the division was tasked to deploy its elements to Kupres, Ključ, Mrkonjić Grad, Šipovo, Jajce and the Mount Vlašić, take command of the Bosnian Serb TO and repel the expected Croatian attack. In order to achieve this, the division mobilised the 1st, 13th and 19th Partisan Brigades—assigning Kupres to the 19th Brigade as its AOR. By 23 March, the brigade received mobilised troops sufficient to set up three companies. Their immediate task was to block the Malovan and Kupreška Vrata mountain passes. The next day, the divisional commander toured the plateau and was informed that the Bosnian Croat forces were in control of the villages of Olovo, Osmanlije and Zlosela, in addition to Kupreška Vrata. On 26 March, the Bosnian Serb TO battalion based in Malovan was subordinated to the 19th Partisan Brigade. At this time, both sides had a relatively small portion of their force inside Kupres, while the Bosnian Croat TO held the area adjacently surrounding the town. The Bosnian Serb TO and the JNA completely controlled the areas surrounding the Bosnian Croat TO force.