BAGHDAD – Turkish troops fired a salvo of shells at Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq early on Wednesday, but it was unclear if there were any casualties, an Iraqi border guard said.

Major-General Omar Sharif, head of operations for the border guards of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region, said the shelling started at 4.30 a.m. (0130 GMT). It targeted three areas on Iraq's mountainous border with Turkey, lasting about half an hour. There was no immediate comment from the Turkish military.

Turkey has intensified operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, who are fighting for an ethnic homeland in eastern Turkey, in recent weeks.

Turkish fighter planes hit a PKK guerrilla base in northern Iraq over the weekend, the army said on its website on Sunday.

Turkey's army launched a brief land offensive against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq in February but has since confined its cross-border operations to air strikes and shells against PKK targets in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 40,000 people since it launched its campaign in eastern Turkey in 1984.

The United States, the European Union and Turkey classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

(Editing by Charles Dick)