US ‘prepared Syrian rebel group to help topple Bashar al-Assad’

The United States prepared a rebel force to join the offensive that overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad, fighters have claimed.

British and American-trained fighters in the Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA), a group aligned against Islamic State, were told “this is your moment” in a briefing by US Special Forces before Assad was ousted.

In the first indication that Washington had prior knowledge of the offensive, the RCA revealed it had been told to scale-up its forces and “be ready” for an attack that could lead to the end of the Assad regime.