More than 150 Kurdish rebels from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been killed in Turkish bombing raids carried out in northern Iraq, the Turkish army said.

"According to initial estimates, this operation allowed us to neutralise more than 150 terrorists," said a statement on the Turkish army website.

Several senior PKK commanders may have been among the dead, it said, adding that the raids caused "panic among (PKK) members."

The raids in the mountainous Qandil region, which began late Thursday, hit 43 targets including shelters and a PKK communications centre, which were all destroyed, the army said.

PKK spokesman Ahmed Danis dismissed the death toll issued by the Turkish army and previous figures published in the Turkish media.

He said that six of their fighters had been killed during the attack in the Qandil mountains.

"The Turkish government is indulging in psychological warfare against the people of Kurdistan and PKK," he said.

"The Turkish media is exaggerating the number of attacks and the number of people killed and wounded," he added.