Peru's military on Sunday said "Artemio," leader of the once feared Shining Path guerrilla movement was alive but badly wounded, retracting an earlier presidential announcement that he had been killed.

"He is alive and receiving the appropriate medical attention," said Defense Minister Alberto Otarola, correcting an earlier declaration from President Ollanta Humala that the guerrilla fighter's body had been discovered.

A military offensive was launched last week to capture Artemio, 47, whose real name was Florindo Flores. Defense officials said they were trailing the guerrilla leader, who was apparently wounded in a battle with police.

Otarola said Artemio had been shot and was found in a hut by a military patrol in the Peruvian jungle.

Artemio was pursued, and apparently wounded, by special forces in southeastern Peru's Puerto Pizana area of the Alto Huallaga jungle, according to last week's statement.

The government has been seeking to eradicate the last vestiges of Shining Path. The group is a Peruvian revolutionary organization that endorses communism and has violently sought to overthrow the government since 1980. It is listed by Lima and the US State Department as a terrorist organization.