"We have confirmed through various sources that since October 2008, the separatist terrorist organisation suffered nearly 375 casualties in northern Iraq -- either dead or wounded -- as a result of air raids and artillery fire," Gen. Metin Gurak told reporters, according to Anatolia.

He did not give a breakdown of the dead and wounded.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has long taken refuge in mountainous camps in neighbouring northern Iraq.

Turkish warplanes have bombed rebel bases in the region since December 2007 under a parliamentary authorisation for cross-border military action, and with the help of intelligence supplied by the United States.

The PKK took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.

Ankara says about 2,000 rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, from where they launch attacks on Turkish territory.

In November, Iraq, Turkey and the United States formed a joint committee to track the threat posed by the PKK and enact measures to curb the militants.