A total of 53 Kurdish militants have been killed so far in the operation, state-run television TRT reported on Saturday without citing a source. The television channel did not provide a timeframe for the latest killings, adding that clashes continue in the area.

Turkish security officials estimated earlier in the week that their forces, numbering about 1,000 inside Iraq, had killed 21 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Turkish military said it had deployed troops from 22 battalions for ground attacks in five different areas on either side of the border, and it had also launched air strikes.

Turkey's leaders have vowed revenge after one of the worst losses of life suffered by the army since the separatist insurgency began in 1984, when PKK guerrillas mounted a series of deadly night-time raids on army outposts in Turkey's mountainous southeast on Wednesday.