The defence ministry said it had on Monday destroyed "21 targets" in Metina, Gara, Hakurk and Qandil believed to house senior members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies.

The Turkish army, whose incursions onto Iraqi soil are regularly condemned by Baghdad, said it had killed "numerous" militants in its latest assault.

It said it took steps to avoid harm to civilians and cultural and historical sites in the area of the bombings.

The PKK, which has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, has a number of rear bases in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

For the past quarter century, Turkey has maintained dozens of its own bases there.