The Turkish military said its offensive against outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas inside Turkey and across the border in northern Iraq would continue.

“Fighter jets belonging to the Turkish armed forces successfully hit targets belonging to the terrorist organisation in the early hours of December 26,” the General Staff said in a statement, adding eight PKK hideouts in the Zap valley were hit.  Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for Peshmerga security forces of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, said the strike lasted about an hour in a mountainous border region of Dahuk province but inflicted no casualties.

The crossborder raids are a reminder that while violence in Iraq has dropped by 60 percent since June, security is fragile and Iraq still faces threats both from within and without.

Turkey says it has the right under international law to hit rebels who take shelter in northern Iraq and mount attacks in which they have killed dozens of Turkish troops in recent months.

Turkish aircraft also struck targets across northern Iraq on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, the latest salvoes in a campaign that began with a larger bombing raid on December 16.

Up to several hundred ground troops as well as long-range artillery have also been involved in the brief crossborder raids.

Hundreds of civilians have fled Iraqi villages in the border area and Iraqi Kurdish officials have said civilians were killed. Turkey has denied this.

PKK targets

Turkey says its raids are solely aimed at PKK guerrillas. The Turkish military said more than 150 PKK guerrillas were killed in the December 16 air strikes across northern Iraq.

The strikes took out PKK command centres, training and logistics camps and more than 180 living quarters, the military said.

Iraqi Kurdish officials say the attacks targeted abandoned villages near the Turkish border and deserted mountain areas. The PKK has denied its infrastructure was destroyed or members killed. Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops, backed by warplanes, artillery and tanks, near its mountainous border with Iraq.