TELL TAMER, Syria, March 9 (UPI) -- A 19-year-old German woman was the first female western fighter to die in a fight against the Islamic State.
Ivana Hoffmann, who also goes by the name Avashin Tekosin Gunes, died Saturday in the northeastern Syrian village of Tell Tamer. She was fighting alongside Turkish fighters as part of the Turkish-Kurdish group Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP).
"Our comrade Avashin had been at the front using her weapons to resist the bloody onslaught of the IS gang against the Assyrian villages in Tell Tamer for days," a statement from the group said. "During these clashes, dozens of gang members were killed. Our comrade Avashin fought to the last bullet together with the fighters of the YPG."
YPG is the acronym for the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units.
Hoffmann is believed to have traveled to Turkey about six months ago in order to fight against IS -- also identified by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL.
In a YouTube video Hoffman says she joined the group "to fight for humanity" and "to fight for freedom," Haaretz reported.
A memorial for the woman was scheduled for Saturday.
Hoffmann isn't the first Westerner to die fighting against IS. Last week, British royal marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield died in a battle in Al-Hol, Syria.
