MANILA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- At least five Abu Sayyaf militants and a soldier have been killed in most recent clashes between government forces and the terrorist group in the southern Philippines, military officials said Friday.

According to Divino Rey Pabayo, a military commander in Sulu province of the southern Philippines, an encounter sparked on Thursday midnight when government troops attacked 20 Abu Sayyaf members in a town of Sulu province.

Pabayo said four Abu Sayyaf members were killed and five others were wounded in the clash, while a government soldier was also killed and two others were wounded in the encounter.

Meanwhile, another Abu Sayyaf member was also killed when government troops assaulted the terrorist group in another town in Sulu province on Thursday morning, said Pabayo.

The military also said that, early this week at least eight Abu Sayyaf members surrendered to the local government in the southern Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf Group, notorious for kidnappings, bombings and attacking civilians and the army, is one of the smallest and most violent terrorist groups in the southern Philippines.

The group, numbering about 500, have been sowing terror in the southern Philippine region since early 1990s.