Some 2,000 people have attended a funeral march in western Germany for a woman who was killed while fighting with the Kurds against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Police said friends and Communist activists escorted the body of Ivana Hoffmann, 19, through the city of Duisburg to a cemetery where she was buried.

Ms Hoffmann died a week ago while fighting with the People's Protection Units, known as the YPG, near the Syrian village of Tel Tamr in Hassakeh province.

Born in Germany to South African parents, she was a member of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) in Turkey and joined YPG fighters about six months ago, the party said in a statement. The party said she died in clashes with IS militants.

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