German Woman Killed In Syria While Fighting ISIS — First Female Casualty

The German woman was among the forces of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, or the YPG, when she was killed in a battle for the Kurdish-occupied town of Tal Tamr in the Syrian province of Hasakeh. According to the Associated Press, the news was announced by a spokesperson for the YPG, Nawaf Khalil, on Monday. Hoffman’s death was also confirmed by Serdar Sitr, the president of the Kurdish Solution Party in Iraq.

Ivana Hoffman is the first female foreign activist to be killed by the Islamic State while fighting among the Kurdish people, and only the third Westerner to be killed in the struggle. The other two foreign nationals to perish in the fight against ISIS were Konstandinos Erick Scurfield from Britain and Ashley Johnson from Australia.

In addition to joining the YPG, the German woman was a part of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party in Turkey. Hoffman is among approximately 7,000 other women who are trained alongside men to fight for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.

Along with the German woman, around 40 other members of the Kurdish forces and Takfiri militants were killed in the battle for Tal Tamr in Syria, according to PressTV. The battle began on Saturday and the deaths were reported the following Sunday. The killing began when ISIS militants launched an attack in an attempt to take over the town held by Kurdish forces.

“Fierce battles broke out during the past 24 hours around Tal Tamr… that killed 40 fighters,” explained Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Reports claim that if ISIS gained control of the town, the terrorist group would have complete access to the Iraqi border and the major city of Mosul. And among the fighters who gave their lives in Syria to protect Tal Tamr was the German woman, Ivana Hoffman.

Activists also reported that an airstrike led by the United States struck a Syrian oil refinery held by members of the Islamic State. The refinery was located near the town of Tel Abyad. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strike killed approximately thirty people, which includes both ISIS militants and workers in the refinery.

The strike was likely ordered to cripple ISIS’s supply of oil, which they sell on the black market to fund their regime.