Manila, May 6 (IANS): The Philippine military acknowledged on Wednesday that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Muslim rebel group killed terrorist Abdul Basit Usman, who had $1-million bounty on his head placed by the US.

Harold Cabunoc, the military's public information chief, said that after verification, government troopers have learned that Usman entered an MILF area in southern province of Maguindanao, Xinhua reported.

"Elements from the MILF then accosted him so that he could be taken to the MILF Central Committee," he said, adding that the Abu Sayyaf bomb-maker resisted, triggering a shootout that resulted in his death.

Initially, there were conflicting information as to how Usman and his five cohorts were killed in Guindulungan, Maguindanao, on Sunday.

The military earlier said that it was Usman and his companions who fought and killed each other due to the bounty, but the MILF claimed that its their fighters who killed the terrorist.

The Philippine government and the MILF forged last year a peace agreement and they are now in the process of implementing it.