"If they want to come, let them come," Dozdar Hammo, a PKK spokesman, told AFP. "We will welcome them here."

Hammo said no Turkish troops had yet crossed the border into north Iraq, but said Ankara's jets were hovering overhead.

Earlier, Hammo said Turkish jets had bombed the Haftani area, north of Dohuk city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Another PKK spokesman, Ahmed Denis, said the rebel group had engaged in clashes with Turkish forces within Turkey on Thursday.

The Turkish army said Thursday it had sent hundreds of troops into northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels in response to Wednesday's ambushes that killed 24 soldiers.

"A large-scale land operation has began in five separate spots in northern Iraq with 22 battalions with air support," the general staff said in a written statement on its website.