Ali Bakran News Today

>> translator: there are seven tactical vehicles and three houses. and god willing, well be attacking this checkpoint. >> reporter: this specific one, i ask. >> translator: yes. this specific unit did a lot of killing. >> reporter: this is what turned ahmed against the government. a peaceful protest last may. ahmed was in it when government soldiers opened fire, gunning them down. [ gunfire ] ahmed and other sources say up to 40 people were killed as army troops continued to fire into the scatte...

Their fortified positions. this is new. the rebels finally have a safe haven. >> translator: bashar and his supporters are cowards. the tyrant regime controls only where it keeps the tanks. thats it. >> reporter: eventually, we reach alis unit. these are his men. his brothers in arms. four of them are actually his own brothers. but hes about to put their lives on the line. ali sends his brother ahmed, his top lieutenant, to lead a dangerous scouting mission into their hometown called marayan to ...

Ali is leaving them to go back to syria, back to the front lines. >> go. go. >> reporter: at daybreak ali and a few of his men quietly cross the barbed wire fence and leave turkey for syria. he kisses the ground, thankful hes back in the fight. once in syria, a driver offers the men a lift. an early sign of the rebels growing popular support. >> translator: we finally made it back to syria, and god willing, we will not abandon the cause. >> reporter: 32 years old, ali was an air-conditioner repa...

Assads army will disintegrate. >> reporter: but those weapons are in short supply. alis unit only has about 150 guns, a few rocket-propelled grenades, and a handful of homemade bombs. alis brother ahmed managed a restaurant before the war. now hes cooking up fertilizer and sugar into explosives for the planned assault on government forces occupying marayan. but its a recipe he still hasnt quite figured out. the pot gets too hot, and the mix goes up in flames. its a mistake they cant afford to ma...

Honor. it was time to take up arms. >> reporter: but taking up arms has a price. after ali joined the revolution, the syrian government burned down the homes of his parents, his grandparents, and his uncles. >> translator: every time they kill one person, the rebels grow in number. every time they burn a house, the demonstrations multiply. >> reporter: in a year alis force has grown from 15 to 635 fighters. and they dont work alone. ali and his men leapfrog from one rebel unit to the next. surpr...

The church uses extreme measures against people like him. >> come on, marty. do you have anything to say? >> this sounds like movie stuff. im sorry, marty, this sounds too complicated to believe. >> i mean, i dont know what to tell you. can you handle the truth? also tonight, richard engel with a view we have never seen before of the uprising inside syria. he made the trip with a rebel commander fighting to liberate his hometown. >> its 4:00 a.m. and ali bakran is saying good-bye to his parent...

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