Turkish warplanes bombed the targets of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq early on Sunday, the Turkish military said in a statement.

The statement issued by the Turkish General Staff posted on its Website said that the warplanes hit PKK targets in regions bordering the Turkish territories as well as in Qandil Mountain, which is further way from the frontier.

The Turkish warplanes bombed the PKK targets in Iraq at 01:00 local time (GMT 2300 Saturday) in large scale areas, said the statement, adding all planes returned to their bases later.

The Turkish military has launched several cross-border attacks recently in a bid to fight separatist PKK rebels, who use northern Iraq as a launch pad for attacks against Turkey.

The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeast of Turkey. More than 30, 000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2007)