Shafaq News/ Turkish artillery shelled positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraqi Kurdistan's governorate of Duhok, a security source said on Monday.

The shelling targeted the vicinity of the village of Dererishe, near Mount Kareh, the source told Shafaq News Agency. No casualties were immediately reported.

The shelling is part of a recent escalation of Turkish military operations in the area. Turkey deems the PKK a terrorist organization and has been carrying out cross-border airstrikes and ground operations against the group for decades.

The PKK has been fighting for an independent Kurdish state in Turkiye since the 1980s. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people.

The Turkish military has advanced as far as 15 kilometers into the Iraqi Kurdistan region, conducting hundreds of strikes under the pretext of fighting PKK group, triggering mass evacuations.

Reports said on Sunday that the Turkish operation had prompted evacuations across as many as 602 villages in Duhok.

The Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based monitor, said, "Since the start of the new Turkish military operation, Turkey has conducted 238 bombardments in Iraqi Kurdistan, primarily in the Duhok Province."

"As a result of Turkish bombardments, more than 20,000 dunams of agricultural lands have burned," the monitor also noted.

The new operation marked a significant escalation compared to 2021, when Turkish military moved as far as seven kilometers into the Iraqi territory.