ANKARA, Feb 22: Turkish ground troops crossed into northern Iraq in their hunt for Kurdish PKK rebels, the military said on Friday, describing the start of a campaign one report said could last 15 days.

The White House said the United States had been informed in advance of Turkey’s offensive and called on Ankara to limit the operation to “precise targeting” of the PKK rebels who have been using northern Iraq as a base to stage attacks in Turkey.

Iraq’s government urged Turkey to respect its sovereignty and avoid any military action which would threaten security and stability.

“We do not expect these operations will expand because they are against the Iraqi and Turkish desire to have good relations,” spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh told Reuters in Baghdad.The European Union repeated its call for Turkey, which is seeking EU membership, to avoid “disproportionate” action.

Turkish television said troops, backed by warplanes and Cobra attack helicopters, had moved 25km inside Iraq.

Turkish TV said 3,000 to 10,000 soldiers had entered Iraq, but several Iraqi officials and a senior military official with US-led coalition forces in Baghdad tried to play down the operation, saying only a few hundred troops were involved.

“The Turkish Armed Forces, which attach great importance to Iraq’s territorial integrity and stability, will return home in the shortest time possible after their goals have been achieved,” the General Staff said in a statement posted on its website.

The General Staff did not specify the size of the operation, but released photographs of armed troops in white fatigues walking through snowy, mountainous Iraqi terrain.

A senior military source in southeast Turkey told Reuters: “Thousands of troops have crossed the border and thousands more are waiting at the border to join them if necessary.” CNN Turk television, citing unnamed security sources, said the operation would last 15 days.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people since it began an armed struggle for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. Washington and the EU, like Turkey, classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.—Reuters