ANKARA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) launched cross-border ground operations against the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq late on Thursday, earlier than the original plan in March to stifle the weakened group, local analysts said on Saturday.

    The Turkish military General Staff announced in a statement on Friday that the TSK launched a cross-border ground operation into north of Iraq as of 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday following successful artillery bombardment, which was backed by air forces jets.

    With the support of the United States, the cross-border ground operations came earlier than planned, mainly to catch the PKK by surprise and stifle the weakened group before they have any chance to recover, said a Turkish military analyst.

    According to earlier estimates, the TSK was planning to launch the ground offensive in late March, waiting for the snow in the region to melt, which had made it extremely difficult for military vehicles and personnel to move along the mountainous Iraqi border.

    Turkish air raids started on Dec. 16 last year with the support of U.S. real-time intelligence and have had a serious psychological impact on the PKK by disrupting its communications and other infrastructure.

    Reliable Turkish sources told Xinhua that six Turkish air raids since Dec. 16 had seriously hit PKK camps and positions in northern Iraq and the TSK launched the ground operations to wipe out groups of the PKK rebels who escaped from their camps following the Turkish air raids.

    According to the understanding of the analyst, the Turkish military launched the ground action ahead of schedule to consolidate their gains so that the PKK would not get time to recover and emerge strong enough to stage attacks against military and civilian targets in Turkey.

    "Now it is a logical step to continue with the ground operations through which you put people on ground to destroy the logistics that the PKK left behind as a result of the Turkish air raids," said the Turkish military analyst anonymously.

    The ground operations in northern Iraq also seem to come after coordination with various sides and strategic planning.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan made a statement on Feb. 19 en route to Russia, saying ground operations might be launched.

    Sedat Laciner, president of International Strategic Research Organization (USAK), one of Turkey's think tanks, said on Thursday "the topic of land operation has been extensively discussed between Deputy Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen. Ergin Saygun and Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James E. Cartwright."

    In carrying out the attacks, Turkey has also sought to avoid confrontation with the United States and Iraq, stressing that the PKK guerillas were its only target.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. had advised Turkey to end the operation as soon as possible and to keep it limited with the targets of the terrorist organization PKK.

    The TSK, for its part, pledged its respect for Iraq's sovereignty, noting that the ground offensive would continue until it reaches the target of ending the use of northern Iraq as a base for the PKK.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday explained that he had talked with U.S. President George W. Bush as well as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki regarding the cross-border operations.

    "We have never been on a negative posture against the Iraqi people and we will not be," he said, adding "I wish this operation yield positive results for Turkey, the Iraqi people and the regional peace."

    Turkish armed forces killed 24 PKK rebels in clashes on Friday as Ankara continued its cross-border ground operations into northern Iraq, with five soldiers also killed, said the General Staff in a statement posted on its website on late Friday.

    The PKK, listed by the United States and Turkey as a terrorist group, took up arms against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.