"The secretary general is concerned that Turkey has launched air strikes into northern Iraq yesterday and that there have been reports of possible civilian casualties," Marie Okabe, a UN spokeswoman, said in a statement.

"Thus far there's no independent confirmation on developments on the ground," she said.

She added that Ban, who is in Paris for an international donors conference for the Palestinians, was also alarmed by "the continued incursions" of separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) elements "carrying out terrorist attacks in Turkey from northern Iraq."

The UN chief appealed to the governments of Iraq and Turkey "to work together to prevent this kind of attacks from continuing."

Earlier Monday, the Turish military said all Kurdish rebel positions targeted in weekend air strikes in northern Iraq were hit and there were no civilian casualties.

No civilians were targeted in Sunday's strikes on positions along the Turkish border and in the Qandil mountains to the east, where the PKK is known to have a major base, it said.

The PKK said five of its militants and two civilians were killed in Sunday's raids.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, enjoys refuge in the rugged mountains of Kurdish-populated northern Iraq and uses bases there as a springboard for attacks in southeast Turkey.

It has waged a bloody campaign against the Turkish state for Kurdish self-rule since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.