The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) also claimed a March 1 bombing in Istanbul that wounded 16 people, nearly all of them police officers, in an attack near the headquarters of Turkey's ruling party.

"On March 13, between 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) and 10:30 pm (1930 GMT), Turkish combat aircraft started air raids and bombings" against areas in Dohuk, Iraq's northernmost province and part of the country's autonomous Kurdistan region, the PKK said in a statement.

The strikes followed March 8 bombings on nearby areas, according to the PKK. It has given no details of casualties in either instance.

The March 8 strikes were the first reported raids in around a month on north Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, where the PKK maintains rear bases.

Fighting between Turkish forces and PKK rebels has escalated in recent months.

The PKK in its latest statement claimed a March 1 attack that saw a remote-controlled explosive fitted to a stationary motorcycle set off close to the offices of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party.

"This operation came after the military and political cleanse which is being continued by the Turkish government," the PKK statement said. "Its aim is a genocide against our people and forces."

In October, Turkey launched a major air and land offensive against the rebels in the southeast of the country and in neighbouring northern Iraq after 24 of its troops were killed in a night-time ambush by rebels.

The PKK took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives. It is labelled a terrorist outfit by Ankara and much of the international community.