Some 350 people were able to leave a rebel-held pocket of east Aleppo late Sunday, a medical official said, though evacuations have officially been postponed.
Five buses carrying the evacuees arrived from besieged parts of east Aleppo," said Ahmad al-Dbis, who heads a team of doctors coordinating evacuations to Khan al-Assal, a rebel territory from where they can travel on to other parts of Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Earlier, armed men burned five buses that were supposed to be used for an evacuation near Idlib in Syria on Sunday, holding up a deal to allow thousands to depart the last rebel pocket in Aleppo, where evacuees crammed into buses for hours, waiting to move.
In return for the evacuation of fighters, their families and other civilians from Aleppo, mostly Sunni insurgents have agreed that people in the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, Shi'ite villages they have besieged near Idlib, should also be allowed to leave.
Videos posted on social media showed bearded men with guns cheering and shouting "God is great" after torching the green buses before they were able to reach the villages and pick up the evacuees.
State media said "armed terrorists", a term it uses for all groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, carried out the attack. Pro-Damascus Mayadeen television blamed the rebel group formerly known as the Nusra Front.
Rebel officials said an angry crowd of people, possibly alongside pro-government "operatives", was responsible.
Hours after the incident, as the Aleppo evacuees waited on their buses, it was still unclear what impact the bus burning near Idlib would have on the wider agreement.
The commander of forces allied to Assad said on Sunday there was still a chance for states with influence over rebel groups to find a solution to evacuate civilians safely.
