A week after a ceasefire deal was reached for Syria's war-ravaged city of Aleppo, hundreds of residents in a western neighbourhood on Tuesday took part in Christmas festivities. But these were eventually disrupted by a bomb blast.

The celebrations at the Al-Azizah neighbourhood in western Aleppo looked like a scene from any other city getting into the Christmas mood, until the bomb blast took place.
The blast sent the otherwise excited and hopeful crowds gathered around a huge cypress Christmas tree into panic, though there were reportedly no casualties.
What’s surprising is that people resumed the celebrations soon after the blast - perhaps a testament to the resilience of a city that has seen months of vicious fighting and umpteen deaths.

Meanwhile, around the same time, eastern Aleppo continued to witness the evacuation of rebel fighters and civilians.
After four years of intense battle, Syria’s government forces, with the help of Russia, recently scored a decisive victory over the rebels in eastern Aleppo.
Looking at a huge number of civilian casualties and unprecedented damage to the city’s infrastructure, the UN had called the situation as “a complete meltdown of humanity”.

Video: AP
Music: Big Bang Fuzz