In 4 BBY, the crew of the Ghost raided an Imperial installation and stole some supplies near the town of Jalath. Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint personally commanded the pursuit, but the rebels managed to escape. Due to their continued failures, Aresko and Grint were executed by the Grand Inquisitor on Grand Moff Tarkin's orders.
During the Age of the Empire, the Galactic Empire established a presence on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal, seeking to exploit the planet's mineral resources and to establish a new hyperspace route. While many initially welcomed the Empire, resistance eventually emerged as Imperial rule became more exploitative and brutal. About four years before the Battle of Yavin, a rebel group known as the Spectres were active on Lothal and frequently attacked Imperial personnel, disrupted Imperial industry, and eluded numerous Imperial attempts to capture them.
On one occasion, three members of the Spectres, the former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, his apprentice Ezra Bridger, and the Mandalorian weapons specialist Sabine Wren, raided one of Taskmaster Myles Grint's supply convoys near Jalath. After inflicting damage, the rebels fled on three speeder bikes. The raid attracted a response from Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Grint, who pursued them in their Imperial Troop Transport. The Imperial response team also include five Imperial combat drivers riding on 614-AvA speeder bikes.
As the rebels approached the outskirts of Jalath, Commandant Aresko divided his forces. As the rebels entered the town, Sabine split from Kanan and Ezra in order to confuse their Imperial pursuers. One of the Imperial speeder bikes pursued Sabine's speeder bike through the narrow streets of Jalath, but crashed into a wall. Meanwhile, Kanan managed to dispatch one of his pursuers by turning around and shooting at the rider, causing him to fall of his speeder bike.
After reuniting at a junction, the three rebels headed towards the outskirts of the town while still being pursued by three Imperial speeder bikes. In an attempt to trap the rebels before the escaped the town, the leading Imperial driver ordered his men to continue the pursuit while he "cut them off." On the other side of the town, the rebels stopped and parked their bikes and hid in the rubbish dump. When the leading Imperial driver approached them, Ezra then stunned him with his lightsaber-blaster. Sabine had put him up to the plan. Having eliminated their Imperial pursuers, the rebels then returned to the Ghost.
The raid on the Imperial convoy near Jalath would have serious repercussions for Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint. As punishment for their repeated failed attempts to apprehend the Spectres, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin ordered their execution in the presence of a horrified Minister Maketh Tua and Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus. Tarkin used the execution to send a message to his Imperial subordinates that the Empire would no longer tolerate failure. Under Tarkin's orders, Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor set a trap for the rebels at the Imperial Communications Center near Jalath.
The Raid near Jalath first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Call to Action," which first premiered on February 2, 2015. It was later adapted in Michael Kogge's chapter book Battle to the End, which was released later that year.