ANKARA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish warplanes have struck militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq late on Saturday, a military statement said on Sunday.

　　Turkish General Staff said in the statement posted on its website that the air strike targeted a cave in the Avasin-Basyan region, in which a large group of PKK guerillas took shelter to launch cross border attacks against Turkey, the statement said.

　　The safe house "was hit successfully" and the military jets have returned safely to their bases, the statement said, giving no details on the casualties of the rebels.

　　Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. In February, it launched an eight-day ground incursion into Iraq.

　　The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. About 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.