The Free Syrian Army fighters control the first city in the country Baba Amr 3012111

Friday, December 30, 2011, 09:39 AM

Most of the Syrian fighters waging a guerrilla war against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad are ill equipped -- short on guns, ammunition and with no heavy weapons. Baba Amr the first city in Syria controlled by the Free Syrian Army fighters.

But while peaceful opposition to the government has grown in the city of Homs since the summer, military defectors, who call themselves the Free Syrian Army, have now managed to kick al-Assad's forces out of one neighborhood and hold the area. Baba Amr is now possibly the first place in Syria beyond government control.

One freelance journalist and filmmaker -- who is not named for his own security -- has just left Homs, and CNN is showcasing what he saw on the front lines of a city at war.

But Baba Amr is surrounded by the Syrian military, and constantly shelled by tanks and artillery. At a meeting in a safe house Abdul Razzaq Tlas insists that even though al-Assad has not used his air force against the uprising, only a no-fly zone imposed by the international community could help the rebels win. "We are in contact with soldiers who are in the army." They say "a no fly zone is essential to prevent them from getting bombed if they defect."

For now the men of the Free Syrian army smuggle fighters in and out of the neighborhood they control, evading government checkpoints. At night, they search everyone entering and leaving their area to stop government death squads, the so-called Shabiyah, from entering.