Turkey has today ended its massive military raid into northern Iraq, but has denied it was acting under pressure from the West.

Turkish F-16 jets buzzed over the small Turkish hilltop town of Cukurca today as elite commandos chased Kurdish guerrillas across the border in northern Iraq in a major ground operation.

Turkish forces pressed ahead with ground operations against Kurdish rebels in Iraq today after the military reported that five troops and several dozen rebels had been killed in the cross-border fighting.

Turkish troops backed by air power crossed into northern Iraq in their first major ground offensive against Kurdish rebel bases in nearly a decade.

More than 1,000 Turkish commandos have rolled across the border into northern Iraq in armoured vehicles, a military official said.