The raid targeted Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the Zap area of the autonomous Kurdish-run north of Iraq, a statement on the general staff's website said.

All the planes returned safely to base after completing their mission, it added, without saying if the raid caused any casualties.

The Turkish army has been hitting PKK targets in northern Iraq -- with intelligence from ally the United States -- under a fresh one-year mandate which was approved by parliament in October.

The previous cross-border air strike was on October 28.

Ankara charges that 2,000 PKK rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, where they allegedly enjoy free movement and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey.

Turkey has often accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in the region, of tolerating and even aiding the PKK, but has said it will still pursue dialogue with them to resolve the problem.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.