Kurdish protesters stormed a Turkish army position in northwestern Iraq on Saturday, with witnesses reporting a number of casualties and damage.

Demonstrators had gathered outside the Turkish-operated base in the northwestern Duhok region in anger over the deaths of four civilians last week, which they blamed on Turkish bombardment in the area.

Ankara often carries out air strikes in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), seen as a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.

Witnesses said several people were wounded when Turkish soldiers fired on the protesters in an effort to push them away from the base in the Sheladzeh district.

The Kurdish regional government said it was "saddened" by the casualties and material damage, but its statement only referred to an "incident" without mentioning Turkey or the protest.

And Turkey's defence ministry said one of its bases was attacked after "provocation by a PKK terror group," resulting in some damage to vehicles and other equipment.

Footage distributed by activists appeared to show protesters setting Turkish military vehicles on fire.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, but also operates bases in the Qandil mountain area of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

In addition to air strikes, Turkey has sometimes carried out cross-border operations against the group.

In December, Baghdad summoned the Turkish ambassador to Iraq to protest Ankara's "repeated" air strikes as a "violation of its sovereignty."

Turkey has pressed Iraq to play a bigger role in fighting off the PKK, and last month announced deeper bilateral cooperation on the matter.

Earlier Saturday, Turkey resumed flights between Istanbul and the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah after a 16-month ban in retaliation for Iraqi Kurdistan's 2017 independence referendum.

Turkey renews flights to Iraqi Kurd city after 16-month ban
Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) Jan 26, 2019 - Flights between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah resumed Saturday, according to aviation authorities, after a 16-month air blockade imposed by Ankara over an independence referendum.

Kurds in the administratively autonomous northern region overwhelmingly voted for independence in a non-binding referendum in September 2017 that infuriated Baghdad as well as Iraq's neighbours, Turkey and Iran.

In retaliation, Baghdad and Ankara blocked international flights from the two main Iraqi Kurdish cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniyah.

Almost all those restrictions were lifted last year but Turkey -- which fears its own Kurdish minority could be inspired to push for independence -- had maintained its blockade on Sulaimaniyah until Saturday.

"Implementing the Turkish government's decision to lift the air blockade on international fights from Sulaimaniyah, the first Turkish Airlines flight landed early this morning and returned to Turkey," said Sulaimaniyah airport chief Taher Abdallah.

He said the blockade cost the airport more than $5 million in 2018.

Iraqi Airways would resume flights between Sulaimaniyah and Istanbul in the coming days, civil air authorities said.

That brings air traffic to and from the Iraqi Kurdish region back to its status before the 2017 referendum.

At the time, the federal government rejected the poll as "illegal," imposed economic penalties and seized the disputed Kirkuk oil fields, halting exports.

But ties have improved markedly in recent months.

Authorities announced the resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk in November and last week, parliamentarians passed a 2019 budget guaranteeing Baghdad would pay the salaries of the Kurdish region's public workers and peshmerga armed forces.

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