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Islamabad, Sunday (AFP)

Pakistan warned military tensions with nuclear rival India could "snowball" after claiming Indian troops had tortured and killed an unarmed Pakistani soldier.

The Pakistani military said Indian forces killed the ranger after capturing him in the no man's land between the countries' two heavily fortified borders.

However India swiftly denied the claim of torture, saying the ranger was shot dead during a clash that erupted on June 19 when he tried to enter Indian territory. An Indian soldier also died in the clash, New Delhi said.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had earlier raised tensions by saying his troops would "teach India a lesson" if they invaded his country and that he "couldn't care less" about New Delhi's recent moves to scale down the threat of war.

Pakistan has repeatedly warned that it would only take a small incident to spark a major conflict and the nation's military spokesman said Saturday the ranger's death could do just that.

"Frankly after the incident it could be difficult to control troops in their response," Major General Rashid Qureshi told reporters.

"This could spark off a snowball effect nobody will be able to control. I think in the name of humanity the world must ask India to carry out an inquiry and punish those responsible for this."

Qureshi said Lance Corporal Naik Maqsood, a member of the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers, strayed into the unclaimed area between India and Pakistan at Fort Abbas in the south of Punjab province on Wednesday to collect a pair of runaway camels. A video of his dead body was shown to reporters here and Qureshi said an autopsy showed Maqsood had been tortured and shot dead at point-blank range.

"Frankly all the indications that we have from the analysis that we have got from the surgeon who carried out the autopsy leave no doubt whatsoever that this man was tortured and then brutally murdered," Qureshi said.

An Indian defence ministry spokesman in New Delhi told AFP that there was "no question of any torture".

"He (the soldier) was trying to infiltrate into India and was killed during an encounter. One of our officers, assistant commander of Border Security Force, Sumer Singh, was also killed in the clash. The soldier's body was handed over at a flag meeting on Thursday."

Qureshi said Pakistani and Indian troops exchanged fire when Indian troops dragged the ranger from the no man's land as he was pursuing stray camels.

"In the past especially when there was no tension, straying of animals to either side of the zero line (the international border) does happen and both sides call to each other and return those animals," said Qureshi.

"In this case this lance corporal called to the Indians and said the animals had gone close to the zero line and he was coming across to get them back.

"Once he went up ahead and got hold of the camels, eight to nine Indian personnel grabbed him and took him towards their side, including the camels, to their side of the border and behind the fence (India's border fortification).

"At this time there was an exchange of fire between Pakistani troops and the Indian troops."

Qureshi alleged the Indian troops "tied up" the ranger and interrogated him with "third degree methods".

"After the firing started they had suffered casualties and because they didn't want him to come back and say he was tortured, they shot him."

Qureshi claimed up to eight Indian soldiers were killed in the incident.

The Indian Express newspaper reported Saturday that an eight-hour shelling duel erupted when a Pakistani soldier pursued a camel that had strayed into the Indian side of the border.

The newspaper said Indian border guards to give chase to the intruder and Pakistani soldiers then opened fire to protect their colleague, killing the Indian border guard officer. Indian troops retaliated, the report said.

Musharraf's comments, which he made in a BBC television interview before Qureshi made public his allegations, had already dimmed hopes recent moves by India to decrease tensions would solve the crisis. "We couldn't care less whether they de-escalate or not," Musharraf said.

"We are totally prepared for them and we will teach them a lesson if they come across the Line of Control.

"They dare not violate our international border, they dare not violate the Line of Control. We will teach them a lesson on the ground, in the air."

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