A militant leader linked to Pakistan's pro-Taliban gunmen has reportedly survived an army crackdown on his dominion and fled to neighboring Afghanistan.

Maulana Fazlullah, who leads a militant circle allied with Pakistan's Tehrik-e-Taliban gunmen, told the British state television BBC on Tuesday that he had fled from the beleaguered Swat valley and had "reached Afghanistan safely".

Fazlullah took Swat under control in 2007, starting to trouble the Pakistani military which has now moved successfully to retake the northwestern valley.

Islamabad's recent massive offensive against the Taliban-linked insurgency was followed by reports of Fazlullah's severe injury, limb loss or elimination and claims that his subordinates had revealed his location.

Under pressure from the United States, whose large-scale military presence in Afghanistan is blamed to have sent militant kingpins across the border to Pakistan, Islamabad has ordered army raids on Swat and bordering South Waziristan.

The prospects of the ongoing engagement in South Waziristan prompted 80,000 people to flee the area. The United Nations has warned that 170,000 others could be rendered homeless by the battle which started in mid-October.

Fazlullah on Tuesday threatened the military with "guerrilla raids", saying "hundreds of thousands of Pakistani soldiers are already involved in furthering the US agenda in the region."

The militant leader also said the government had to instead put efforts in curbing the US drone attacks on Pakistan's tribal areas and preventing the American security contractor Blackwater (now known as Xe) — infamous for killing 17 civilians in 2007 in Iraq — from gaining ground in the country.

HN/AKM