The Turkish military shelled a village in Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region on Monday, security officials and witnesses said, after a period of relative peace in the area.

Turkish mortar shells hit Nezduri village near the town of Zakho, in the northern Kurdish province of Dohuk, local Kurdish security forces and residents told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The target of the shelling, which did not cause any casualties, was not immediately clear.

In the past, Turkish forces have targeted the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish group with rear bases in northern Iraq that fought Turkey for decades before declaring a truce with Ankara in March 2013.

But the peace process stalled in September when the PKK announced they were suspending their retreat from Turkish soil, accusing the government of failing to deliver on promised reforms.

PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan subsequently issued a statement in April warning of a possible return to violence.

The PKK took up arms for Kurdish independence in southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.