Turkey's military and intelligence unit "neutralised" nine members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in operations in northern Iraq, the Defence Ministry and state-run media said on Saturday.

Turkey regularly carries out air strikes in neighbouring Iraq as part of its offensive against PKK militants based there.

"Our operations will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised," the ministry said on Twitter, adding that the military targeted seven PKK members. It typically uses the word "neutralised" to mean killed.

State-owned Anadolu Agency reported separately that the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) had "neutralised" two PKK members in the Sulaymaniyah region of Iraq.

The PKK launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. It is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Reuters