Government licenses and German arms exports had risen 96 percent in 2015 to a value of $13.6 billion, a priest said.

Syrian TV showed live footage of a long convoy of ambulances and green buses driving out of Aleppo.

The woman's killing in a public square was the cruelest moment in the descent of this once proud city.

Activists and fighters trapped in the opposition's last sliver of territory in Aleppo said pro-government forces had struck their district with dozens of rockets since mid-morning.

U.N. reports the safe withdrawal of people from the besieged area was now "imminent."