Turkey's military said on Sunday its fighter jets hit 12 Kurdish separatist targets in northern Iraq's Qandil region in an operation that started at midnight.

The army general staff said in a statement on its website that all the planes had returned safely to their bases and that it was working to confirm "terrorist casualties."    

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) uses north Iraq as a base from which to make attacks on Turkish territory. Turkey blames the PKK, which is fighting for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey, for the deaths of 40,000 people in the past 25 years.

"The operations carried out as part of the anti-terror fight will continue with determination both at home and abroad in accordance with military necessities," the army statement said.

The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

Army aircraft also attacked Kurdish separatist targets in Iraq on Wednesday, striking 13 PKK targets. Iraqi officials said the air raid lasted 45 minutes but caused no casualties.  -Reuters