"The United States is not only giving active support, but they also take part in the operations," Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander Bahoz Erdal told the Firat news agency, considered to be a rebel mouthpiece.

"US reconaissance planes are overflying the region. They instantly convey to the Turkish army information about the position of our forces and then Turkish warplanes come and bomb the field," he added.

Erdal charged that some Iraqi Kurdish groups "are also involved in this ploy" and pointed an accusing finger at Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

"In our opinion, Jalal Talabani's attitude in this offensive is very dangerous. We have information that he has even invited the Turkish army to Qandil," he said, referring to mountains along the Iraqi-Iranian border, known to be a major PKK stronghold.

Northern Iraq is predominantly Kurdish and run by an autonomous Kurdish administration led by Massud Barzani.

Erdal urged Iraqi Kurds to resist Turkish military action in their region, saying: "If (they) refuse to take part in this game, the offensive will fail."

An undisclosed number of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq Thursday evening in the largest incursion against the PKK in years, bombing rebel positions and fighting the militants on the ground.

At least 79 rebels and seven soldiers have been killed so far, according to the Turkish military.

Ankara has accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating and even supporting the PKK, which has long taken refuge in northern Iraq and uses camps there as a springboard for attacks on Turkish targets across the border.

The United States has pledged to supply its NATO ally with real-time intelligence on PKK movements.

The rebels have threatened attacks in city centres in Turkey to avenge the raids.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.