US helped prepare Syria's rebels weeks before coup that toppled Assad

US special forces warned rebels to 'be ready' weeks before fighters launched the large-scale coup that toppled former President Bashar al-Assad's regime, it has emerged.

Capt Bashar al-Mashadani, a Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA) commander, told that advised an attack against the Assad regime was imminent and helped the RCA strengthen its ranks.

'They did not tell us how it would happen,' Mashadani recalled. 'We were just told: "Everything is about to change. This is your moment. Either Assad will fall, or you will fall." But they did not say when or where, they just told us to be ready.'

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