ANKARA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish jets hit 16 targets of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in the north of Iraq on Thursday, Turkish General Staff announced in a statement.

    The General Staff said that Turkish jets launched an air strike against the PKK targets in Hakurk region in the north of Iraq at 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) on Thursday.

    "Sixteen targets that belonged to the terrorist organization PKK were hit in Hakurk region in the north of Iraq," the statement the General Staff posted on its website said.

    The General Staff said that Turkish armed forces showed necessary sensitivity to avoid any harm to civilians and local groups, and damage assessment has begun after the air strike accomplished.

    The Turkish military has periodically bombed and shelled suspected PKK positions in Turkish-Iraqi border area during the past few months. 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 against Turkey in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in the southeast. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.