Senior militants in Aleppo have claimd they have provided five specific targets that will degrade the Syrian army, will not impact on the civilian population and will give them the upper hand in the coming months.

It is widely acknowledged in northern Syria that this type of information is being passed to US "handlers" across the battlefield that is now Syria.

The move means that militant groups are passing on a picture of the Syrian armed forces position throughout the country to the CIA.

It is an open secret that the US is training, and heavily linked to, the FSA and foreign-backed militant groups in Turkey and Jordan.

British advisors are assisting militant groups on a variety of levels but the Government continues to insist that it is "non-military".

FSA sources tell Sky News that is true, but only in the "broadest sense" of non-military assistance.

The key question for militants is how significant the US attacks, if they come, will be.

In an Aleppo Christian church they have taken over a 3D model of the entire city. It is now covered in marker pins identifying militants and government positions.

This is part of their planning meetings and indicates a new level of sophistication in their thought processes. They have been hopeless at times.

"We have targets and we have passed them onto our American contacts and we hope they will follow our advice," the number two commander for FSA's Ahrar Souria Brigade, Abu Nabhan, said.

"I won't tell you the targets but they are specific and they will help us," he said.

The FSA says 13 of its brigades will join as one in the aftermath of "substantial" US attacks and will co-operate with Jihadi groups in a push on Damascus and to the west towards Latakia on the Mediterranean seaboard.

NTJ/BA