Turkish warplanes hit northern Iraq, no casualties

ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes launched a wave of air strikes on northern Iraq late on Tuesday, where they often target bases of Kurdish separatists, but there were no reports of casualties, witnesses and border guards said on Wednesday.

"After 10:00 last night, the Turkish warplanes hit some areas near the border in three locations," said Colonel Hussein Tamr, commander of border guards in Dahuk province, part of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region.

"It lasted more than an hour. We went there after the attacks finished. We found no casualties and no material damage because the attacks took place on the outskirts of these villages," he added.

Witnesses reached by telephone in the border villages confirmed the strikes and said there were no reports of casualties.

Turkey regularly launches strikes across the border into remote areas of northern Iraq, where PKK fighters seeking independence for Kurdish areas in Turkey are based.

(Reporting by Shamal Aqrawi; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Andrew Heavens)