Two soldiers and five suspected Islamist militants have been killed in the southern Philippines as the military attempted to rescue hostages being held by Abu Sayyaf, amid concerns they would be beheaded.
The militants are believed to be holding more than 20 hostages, including 14 foreigners, on Jolo island and the nearby province of Basilan.
"This is part of our sustained and relentless focused military operations to rescue the remaining kidnap victims," said Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of a military anti-terrorism task force.
"Because of the invalidated threat that there would be hostages that would be beheaded, we launched a massive rescue operation," he added.
One soldier was wounded in the firefight in the town of Kalingalan Caluang on Jolo island, 1000km south of Manila, according to Sobejana.
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He said it was not clear which hostages were with the group that clashed with troops in Kalingalan Caluang, adding that Abu Sayyaf had separated the captives.
The latest hostages were four Filipino construction workers seized from Patikul town on Jolo on July 15. The terrorists had demanded 1 million pesos ($A25,300 dollars) in ransom for each of the workers.
Last month, they beheaded two Vietnamese hostages, while another Vietnamese captive was killed during a clash between his captors and government troops.
Abu Sayyaf is believed to be allied with Islamic State.
Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf leader, has been identified as the head of Islamic State-allied militants fighting government troops in Marawi City since May 23.
