Ali Bakran News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> translator: there are seven tactical vehicles and three houses. and god willing, we'll 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 scattering crowds of protesters. >> translator: we were stunned. some people stood still. some people fel...

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. that's it. >> reporter: eventually, we reach ali's unit. these are his men. his brothers in arms. four of them are actually his own brothers. but he's 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 assess the strength of assad's military positions there. so we're now in between two syrian army ...

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 he's 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 repairman. but this is now his life. ali is a commander of a citizens militia he founded. to fight aga...

Assad's army will disintegrate. >> reporter: but those weapons are in short supply. ali's unit only has about 150 guns, a few rocket-propelled grenades, and a handful of homemade bombs. ali's brother ahmed managed a restaurant before the war. now he's cooking up fertilizer and sugar into explosives for the planned assault on government forces occupying marayan. but it's a recipe he still hasn't quite figured out. the pot gets too hot, and the mix goes up in flames. it's a mistake they can't afford to make. it's time now for ali and his war council to decide if they can attack government forces...

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 ali's force has grown from 15 to 635 fighters. and they don't work alone. ali and his men leapfrog from one rebel unit to the next. surprisingly, they operate openly, carrying weapons, using the main roads. at rebel checkpoints ali's f...