The upswing in violence began on Friday when nine Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq, prompting Ankara to conduct air strikes and operations both there and in northern Syria.

The latest air strikes were carried out late yesterday in the Metina, Gara, Hakurk and Qandil regions of northern Iraq as well as in northern Syria to ensure border security and prevent attacks, the ministry said.

“Twenty-three targets were destroyed, including caves, shelters, tunnels, ammunition warehouses, supply materials and facilities used by the terrorist organisation,” it said in a statement accompanied by a photo of Turkish warplanes.

It said many fighters were “neutralised”, a term commonly used to be mean killed.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

Turkish forces regularly strike PKK rebels based in the mountains of northern Iraq.

Earlier, Syrian state media and other sources said yesterday that Turkey had carried out a wave of air strikes on electricity and oil infrastructure in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeast, putting several power stations out of service.

Turkey has carried out a series of military incursions and bombing campaigns in Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, which it regards as a wing of the PKK.

Turkish authorities said yesterday that police had detained 18 people for “praising terrorism” after Friday’s killing of the Turkish soldiers, while a high-level PKK member was “neutralised” in northern Iraq.

There was no immediate reaction from the PKK, which seldom confirms attacks against it.