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In a surprise visit, the head of the PKK-affiliated Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) met with Turkish officials to discuss the creation of a provisional council in an area of northern Syria. He assured them that the PYD is against the Assad regime, and that the proposed provisional council would include Arabs, Syriacs, and Turkmen, as well as Kurds. PYD fighters have seized territory controlled by the al Qaeda-linked Al Nusrah Front in recent weeks. Clashes between Kurdish forces and Islamist forces continue near the Turkish border. A stray mortar from the fighting in Ras al Ayn fell in Ceylanpınar, killing a farmer and injuring two of his children.