Turkish warplanes bombed the Qandil border area in Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday for about an hour, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatist group said.

Dozdar Hammo said that Turkish jets began bombing the area, in which the PKK has bases, around 11:00 am (0800 GMT) and continued for about an hour. He did not provide any additional details.

The Turkish military launched an operation in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region after a PKK attack last month killed 24 soldiers in the town of Cukurca near the Iraqi border, the army's biggest loss since 1993.

Listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK took up arms for Kurdish independence in southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.