There was no word on the fate of four Christian Filipino women and three Indonesian seamen who are being held by various kidnapping gangs active in Jolo.
The military said slain gunmen were seen being dragged away by their comrades during the battle, but they could not say how many had been killed.
Fighting broke out in the town of Patikul on Jolo after the military overran three camps of the Abu Sayyaf group as part of a general offensive against outlaw groups on Jolo, a hotbed of Muslim armed gangs.
In another development, police arrested Abu Sayyaf member, Daud Tain, 23, in Basilan on Thursday.
Tain, an alleged aide of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, was nabbed in a raid on a house in Isabela City. He is wanted for over 18 counts of kidnapping and has a bounty of P1 million. — AFP, Roel Pareño