A Kurdish rebel group said on Friday that Turkey's air force carried out air strikes on border areas of north Iraq, but gave no details about casualties or damage. "On March 8, between 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) and 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), F-16 jet fighters belonging to the occupation army of Turkey launched air raids" against the Jabal Mattine area, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said in a statement.
It gave no further details. The air strikes were the first reported raids in around a month on north Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, where the PKK maintains rear bases. Fighting between Turkish forces and PKK rebels has escalated in recent months.