ANKARA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has 11 temporary military bases in northern Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday.

During an interview with local broadcast A Haber, Yildirim said Turkish force has been shelling Qandil Mountain through airstrikes, and 400 square km of the region have been cleared of outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

"We cleared the area in northwestern Syria's Afrin during Operation Olive Branch. We will do the same thing in Qandil Mountain area," the Yildirim said.

On June 11, Turkey launched cross-border land operations and airstrikes against suspected bases belonging to PKK in northern Iraq's Qandil and Sinjar regions.