(Updates with Turkish army confirmation)

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq on Monday, the head of Iraq's border guards in Dahuk said.

Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) use remote parts of northern Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region as a base for launching attacks in southeastern Turkey. Turkish forces often retaliate with air strikes and artillery fire.

The head of the Dahuk province border guards, Colonel Hussein Tamor, said no civilians were hurt because the area was unpopulated. He did not know of any rebel casualties in the strike, which continued from 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) to 6 p.m. (1500 GMT).

The Turkish military confirmed the strike, saying the aircraft had returned safely and there had been no civilian casualties.

Ankara has boosted military action against the PKK in recent months. A Turkish army officer and two soldiers were killed along with four Kurdish separatist rebels in clashes in eastern Turkey last month.

PKK rebels claimed responsibility for blowing up a section of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey last month.

Turkey, the European Union and United States refer to the PKK as a terrorist organisation. Around 40,000 people have been killed since 1984, when the PKK took up arms with a view to establishing an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey. (Reporting by Sherko Raouf; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Michael Christie and Ralph Boulton)

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