ANKARA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish security forces launched a wide-scale military operation against the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in southeast Turkey overnight, local media reported on Tuesday.

    The report said that Turkish security forces stepped up operations against the PKK to prevent any weakness throughout Ramadan Feast and border crossings, which were earlier used by PKK militants in the past, are under strict control.

    The operation was carried out under cover of F-16 military aircraft that offered support to land troops to help them regain control over all PKK strategic passages and locations.

    In the meantime, an anti-PKK offensive launched on Sunday by the Turkish army in mountainous areas in Hakkari is still going on, according to army sources.

    The Turkish army also said that they are policing the borderline with Iraq and are aided in doing that by sensitive surveillance cameras that allow them to abort any attempt by PKK elements in northern Iraq to sneak into Turkish territory.

    However, the PKK separatist organization has announced a ceasefire during the Lesser Bairam feast that began Tuesday.

    Turkey has conducted frequent air raids on suspected positions of the PKK in northern Iraq. In February, it also 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. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict.