Turkish airstrikes targeted at Kurdish rebels far as 100 kilometers (60 miles) inside northern Iraq attacked several Iraqi villages and killed one woman.
During the three-hour offensive early Sunday, fighter jets hit rebel positions close to the border with Turkey and in the Qandil mountains, which straddles the Iraq-Iran border - and is about 100 kilometers from the frontier between Iraq and Turkey, the Turkish military said in a statement on its Web site. It said the operation was directed against the rebels and not against the local population.
As many as 50 fighter jets were involved in the airstrikes, private NTV television and other media reported. Turkey has recently attacked the area with ground-based artillery and helicopters and there have been some unconfirmed reports of airstrikes by warplanes, the AP reports.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Turkey could stage more attacks on Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, hide-outs in northern Iraq.
"This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success," Erdogan said Sunday. "Our struggle (against the PKK) will continue inside and outside Turkey with the same determination."
Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along its border with Iraq in response to a series of attacks by the rebels. In October, parliament voted in favor of authorizing the government to order a cross-border operation against the group, which seeks autonomy for the Kurdish minority in southeastern Turkey.
The United States and Iraq have, however, called on Turkey to avoid a major operation, fearing such an offensive could disrupt one of the most tranquil regions in Iraq.
The attack came a month after the United States promised to share intelligence with Turkey about the PKK, and Turkey's military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, said U.S. intelligence was used.
" America gave intelligence," Kanal D television quoted Buyukanit as saying. "But more importantly, America last night opened (the Iraqi) airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation."
"Even if it's winter, even if there's snow, even if they live in caves, we'll find them and hit them," he said. "These operations will continue all the time."
The U.S. embassy in Iraq refused to comment Monday on Buyukanit's assertion that American officials had given Turkey permission to enter Iraq's air space.
Harsh winter conditions in the rugged terrain of northern Iraq reduce the possibility of a large-scale ground offensive, and Turkish attacks on the PKK are likely to be limited to airstrikes. Air raids also carry fewer military or political risks, such as hurting Turkey's alliance with the U.S. and Europe , or triggering a sharp rise in global oil prices.
In Iraq, Mohammad Hajj Hammoud, a Foreign Ministry undersecretary, summoned the Turkish ambassador and asked that Ankara end raids "that cause harm to innocent people and affect friendly bilateral relations," the ministry said on its Web site.
The raids killed one woman, wounded four and displaced several families, the ministry said.
Turkish news reports said a PKK command center in Qandil was hit.
The mountain is a base for the PKK's leadership council and the group has a network of camps around the mountain. News reports in the past weeks have suggested that PKK fighters may have dispersed from camps in northern Iraq , predicting a possible attack from Turkey .
The pro-Kurdish news agency Firat, citing the PKK, said two civilians and five PKK rebels were killed in the raids. Two schools and a hospital were destroyed, it said in separate reports, adding that the hospital had been vacated in anticipation of an attack.
The Kurdish rebels said they responded to Turkish raids with anti-aircraft artillery units, Firat reported.
Abdullah Ibrahim, a senior local official in the Iraqi administrative center of Sangasar, said Turkish warplanes bombarded 10 Kurdish villages, killing one woman and injuring two others.
"The villagers are now scared and are hiding in nearby caves. They lost all their properties," Ibrahim said.
Journalists were barred from entering the areas struck by Turkish warplanes, but some managed to sneak into the small village of Qlatooka, in Qandil, where bombs had destroyed a school and some homes.
Mukhlis Khadar, 44, said he and his family were woken by the raids and fled their home when the school was hit.
"We left an unbelievable scene behind us," Khadar said. "When we climbed the rocks of the nearby mountain ... we saw flames of fire burning our village. ... Our house disappeared."
Saoqo Mohammad, a 30-year-old woman said: "we are civilians, with no arms or any relation to the PKK - why do they allow such horrible acts against civilians?"
Turkish forces have periodically shelled across the Iraqi border, and have sometimes carried out "hot pursuits" - limited raids on the Iraqi side that sometimes last only a few hours.
The military said the airstrikes began at 1 a.m. , with all planes returning to their bases safely by around 4:15 a.m. The army then continued firing on the targets with long-range weapons, the military said.
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek urged Kurdish separatists to surrender, saying: "Come, while there's still time, return to your mothers, your fathers and your families."
Turkey is considering amending a law that pardons PKK rebels who have not been engaged in fighting and who turn themselves in.
By Sherko Raouf
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes targeting Kurdish rebels bombed northern Iraq on Sunday, killing one woman and forcing hundreds to flee, local officials said.
The Turkish military said it had attacked targets of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) with the approval of U.S. occupying forces in Iraq. The United States said only that it had been informed in advance of the operation.
Turkish ground forces also shelled areas where the rebels were based, an army statement said. Turkey's NTV television said 50 aircraft had taken part in the three-hour operation.
The Turkish army has up to 100,000 troops near the Iraqi border, threatening a major operation that Washington fears could destabilize one of the most peaceful areas of Iraq.
It was given authorization by the cabinet last month to conduct cross-border operations against the PKK, which uses northern Iraq as a base for attacks inside Turkey.
"In opening Iraqi airspace to this action last night America gave its approval to the action," the head of Turkey's General Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, was quoted by the Anatolian state news agency as saying.
A U.S. embassy official said: "We have not approved any decision, it is not for us to approve. However, we were informed before the event."
Pro-separatist Roj TV, quoting PKK sources, said five PKK guerrillas were killed in the overnight bombardment.
The death of the woman was the first reported civilian fatality since Turkey stepped up shelling and air strikes on suspected PKK bases in the Qandil mountains in October.
Abdullah Ibrahim, the mayor of Sankasar town north of the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, said 200 families had fled their homes in villages in the Sankasar and Jarawa administrative areas and at least 10 houses had been destroyed.
Buyukanit denied any civilian targets were hit.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his government was determined to use every kind of instrument in the fight against terrorism -- diplomatic, political and military.
"We will continue to wage this battle for our nation's unity and peace, both inside and outside Turkey," he said.
DEEP INSIDE IRAQ
The air strikes were launched at 2 a.m. (2300 GMT) and continued for several hours, the mayors of Jarawa and Sankasar said. The villages targeted are about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Turkish border.
The mayors said one woman was killed and at least two people wounded. Fouad Hussein, head of the Kurdistan president's office, confirmed the death and condemned the attack as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hajj Humoud summoned the Turkish ambassador and demanded an end to strikes which "may affect the friendly relations between the two governments and peoples," the foreign ministry said.
It also said one woman was killed, four civilians wounded and many families displaced.
Turkey said its operations solely targetted the PKK.
"I can categorically state that not a single civilian target, not a single village was hit. Previously identified PKK camps were hit. There is no question of any accident," Anatolian news agency quoted Buyukanit as saying.
The United States, Turkey's NATO ally, has begun sharing intelligence with the Turks about PKK movements inside Iraq. Washington wants to avert a large-scale Turkish ground offensive.
Analysts say a major Turkish land incursion is very unlikely right now, since many Kurdish rebels have moved into Iran and weather conditions in northern Iraq are worsening.
Ankara blames the PKK, which seeks a separate Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey, for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since it began its armed struggle in 1984.
(Additional reporting by Shamal Aqrawi in Arbil and Gareth Jones in Ankara; editing by Myra MacDonald)
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