
As the final wounded and starved civilians are evacuated from east Aleppo after five long years of civil war, Syrians loyal to President Assad have thrown a Christmas celebration.

Video footage shows children singing in a choir, musicians dressed as Santa playing trumpets and a large Christmas tree twinkling at the festive party in government-held west Aleppo.

Russian, Iranian and Syrian flags are flown from balconies.

The celebrations, held alongside huge posters of the Syrian dictator, were briefly disturbed by a bomb near Azizieh square but continued moments later.

The scenes of merriment are in stark contrast to what is happening in the east of the city…

Heavy snow is blanketing the potholed ground and swirling through crumbled buildings, adding to the misery of thousands still inside the last pocket of what was once a crucial stronghold of Syrian rebel forces.

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Celebrations: In Azizieh square, in west Aleppo, which is under firm government control a festive party was held on Tuesday

Joyous: Residents of west Aleppo hosted their first Christmas tree-lighting since fighting broke out in the city in 2012

Rebels, including women, children and the elderly, lit fires this week as they waited in line alongside their obliterated homes, with temperatures reaching -3C.

Workers in the red uniforms of the Syrian Red Crescent, which has been helping with the evacuations, huddled by the side of the road, their white ambulances parked nearby barely visible in the snow.

At least 25,000 people have left rebel districts of Aleppo since opposition fighters agreed last week to withdraw from the city after years of fighting, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is overseeing the operation.

The retreat from Aleppo -- which had been divided into a rebel-held east and government-controlled west since 2012 -- marks the biggest victory for President Assad's forces in nearly six years of civil war.

Allies: The people of west Aleppo celebrated under huge flags adorned with Russia's President Putin, Syria's Assad and Iran's Hassan Rouhani

Lit up: A generator was reportedly used to illuminate the festive Christmas lights strung up across the square as locals flashed their phone torches

Huge crowds: Russian and Syrian flags were flown from the balconies of President Assad loyalists

Is this Syria or Russia? Residents of west Aleppo flew flags in support of Putin's warplanes from their apartment balconies

Loyalists: Partying under a giant Assad flag, there were little signs of the suffering being felt by thousands of people just a few miles down the road in east Aleppo

It follows a month-long army offensive and weeks of siege that killed hundreds and left rebels with less than 10 percent of the territory they once controlled in the city.

Brokered by regime ally Russia and opposition supporter Turkey, the evacuation plan has moved forward in fits and starts but appeared to be reaching its end.

On Tuesday soldiers used loudspeakers to warn remaining fighters and civilians it was time to leave eastern districts.

But a dispute delayed the final round of evacuations for over 24 hours after some 20,000 civilians and fighters were taken out of the city.

On Wednesday, rebel evacuations resumed from Aleppo, paving the way for the Syrian government to resume control of the war-torn city, local TV reported.

Five buses had arrived at the Ramouseh crossing between the rebel and government sides of the city, after rebels handed over pro-government fighters they took prisoner during previous fighting.

A different picture: Syrian pro-government forces walk amidst destroyed buildings as snow falls in east Aleppo on December 21

Time to go: Syrian pro-government forces (pictured) used loudspeakers to warn remaining fighters and civilians it was time to leave eastern districts on Tuesday

Struggling: The last residents hoping to leave rebel-held Aleppo have been forced to wait in the snow as delays hit an evacuation that will leave Syria's army in full control of the devastated city. Pictured are Syrian pro-government forces

Destroyed: A month-long army offensive and weeks of siege have killed hundreds and left rebels with less than 10 percent of the territory they once controlled in the east of Aleppo

Taking over: Pictured are Syrian pro-government forces inside east Aleppo. The rebels' retreat from the area marks the biggest victory for President Assad's forces in nearly six years of civil war

Four buses are reported to have arrived at the city's rebel-held western countryside, marking the first successful evacuation in more than 24 hours.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there are 60 buses prepared to evacuate some 3,000 fighters and civilians from the opposition's last foothold in the city.

It is the last convoy set to leave Aleppo before the government is expected to declare it has taken full control of the city for the first time since rebels carved out an enclave for the opposition in 2012.

Many of those who have left Aleppo have headed to neighbouring Idlib province to stay with relatives or in displacement centres.

'We did not want to leave our land, but they used every weapon available to force us out,' says Abu Mohammad, a father of four from east Aleppo.

'Now they've prepared a prison for us in order to besiege us and bombard us,' he adds, speaking to AFP in a camp hosting around 100 displaced families.

Idlib city has been held since March 2015 by a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham and the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front.

Since then, tens of thousands of people from across the country have flooded the province.

The UN office for humanitarian affairs, OCHA, estimates that 700,000 internally displaced people have found shelter in Idlib since Syria's war erupted nearly six years ago.