The army fired artillery from Turkish soil late Monday on the 21 rebels some three kilometres (two miles) inside Iraq in the Zap region, causing the "neutralisation of a large part of the group," said an army statement published online.

It said the rebels, members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) separatist movement, had been trying to enter Turkish territory.

Turkey has launched several air and land attacks on PKK positions in Iraq since December. Its government says there are more than 2,000 PKK rebels based there.

The PKK is branded a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. More than 37,000 people have died since 1984 in attacks during its struggle for an independent Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey.