BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraq lodged an official complaint with Turkey on Saturday claiming it had bombarded Iraq's northern Kurdish region and warning that the attack against Kurdish rebels could destabilize the region.

"The foreign ministry delivered a letter to the charge d'affaires of Turkey protesting the bombardment of Iraq around Dohuk and Arbil which caused huge damage, fire and spread panic among the people," a ministry statement said.

Jabbar Yawar, spokesman for the Kurdish security forces in northern Iraq, said the Turkish shelling targeted Dohuk province.

"The Turkish artillery bombardment took place at dawn today, targeting villages in Dohuk province," he told AFP.

"The shelling lasted for 45 minutes and was aimed at villages in the Zakho and Amadiyah regions of Dohuk," he said, naming a series of villages where the shells crashed.

In Ankara, a Turkish foreign ministry official confirmed delivery of the note, but denied that it constituted a protest.

"The Iraqi authorities summoned our charge d'affaires in Baghdad and delivered a note to him," the official said on condition of anonymity. "They observe in that note that Turkey has put in place certain measures against terrorism on the Iraqi border and express their concern after shells fell on the Iraqi side, sowing panic among the populace."

Asked to confirm those claims, the official said he was unable to do so.

Turkey's Milliyet newspaper reported that Turkish artillery had targeted villages near Zakho abandoned by their inhabitants because of activity in the region by Turkish Kurd rebels.

Earlier reports of an imminent Turkish offensive against Iraqi rear-bases of the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had been denied by Ankara, Washington and even by the PKK. On Saturday, the Iraqi foreign ministry called for an immediate halt to the military action as it threatened to "destabilize the region and could erode confidence between the two countries."

"Such activities should be stopped immediately," the statement quoted the letter as saying. Calling for a dialogue to resolve the issue, the ministry stressed it considered Turkey's PKK as an "illegitimate outfit and rejects it."

"Our position towards Turkey is directed by the constitution which believes in good neighborly relations and non-interference in the affairs of other countries," the statement added.

Turkey says the PKK, whose two-decade-old insurgency in eastern and southeastern Turkey has claimed more than 37,000 lives, is acting under the protection of Iraqi Kurds who are allied to the United States.

Violence increased with the spring thaw as rebels hiding in the rugged mountains of northern Iraq slipped back across the border to attack Turkish troops, effectively ending a unilateral ceasefire the PKK declared in October 2006.

Turkey launched several cross-border operations into Iraq in the 1990s, but failed to dislodge the PKK rear-bases.

It maintains a 1,500-strong troop presence several kilometres (miles) inside Iraq to try to stem the flow of PKK fighters across the mountainous 384-kilometre (240-mile) border.

Turkey has repeatedly demanded tougher action from Iraq and the United States against the rebels and refuses to rule out acting unilaterally if its demands are not heeded.