Seventeen PKK terrorists were killed Monday after Turkish warplanes fired on the militant group in northern Iraq's Hakurk region, the military said.

"A group of armed PKK terror organization members, who were preparing for an attack on Turkish border posts, were spotted and neutralized by fire from aircraft of the Air Forces," the statement said.

The statement added that three caves used by the group and a shelter were also destroyed. It did not specify further details about the operation.

More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.