Pakistani protesters gather at a road while police fire tear gas shell to disperse them during clashes in Islamabad on Sunday. (AP Photo)
Clashes between Pakistani anti-government protesters and police resumed in the capital Islamabad late on Monday afternoon with security forces firing teargas to stop demonstrators trying to reach Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's residence.
Live television footage showed men armed with wooden clubs running chaotically along the central Constitution Avenue, some pressing cotton scarves to their faces to lessen the effect of the teargas.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters trying to topple Pakistan's government stormed the state broadcaster as clashes with police broke out in Islamabad.
Transmission of the main Pakistani Television (PTV) news channel was cut minutes after an anchor announced demonstrators had entered the building and "besieged" staff.
Protesters armed with rocks and wooden clubs earlier clashed with police, hours after the powerful army called for a peaceful settlement of the political crisis that has shaken the nuclear-armed nation.
Pak TV reported said the protesters entered the secretariat after breaking open the gates while security forces tried to stop them from entering the ministers offices.
The protesters also pushed closer to prime minister Nawaz Sharif's house in central Islamabad though he is reportedly away at his house in residence.
Opposition groups marched to the capital on August 15 in a bid to topple Nawaz Sharif, triggering a crisis that has raised the spectre of military intervention in a country that has been ruled for half its history by the army.
The army urged the government and protesters to settle their differences peacefully on Sunday night, but warned it was "committed to playing its part in ensuring security of the state", after clashes left three dead.
Violence began on Saturday night when followers of former cricketer Imran Khan and populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri tried to storm Sharif's official residence.
Clashes erupted on Monday morning as heavy rain fell on the capital, as more than 3,000 demonstrators again tried to march on the building, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
Protesters pelted riot police with stones and some smashed up motorbikes with wooden clubs. Police tried to respond with teargas but the heavy rain appeared to make it ineffective.
Pak army supports `democracy`, urges leaders to resolve crisis through dialogue
The Pakistani army expressed serious concern over the clashes in Islamabad between the police and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).
While underlining its support for democracy, the army warned that any further use of force will only worsen the situation and asked all parties to resolve the political crisis through negotiations, the BBC reported.
The latest bout of violence broke out when protesters tried to remove security barriers to move closer to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's residence on Saturday night. Police responded by firing rubber bullets and using tear gas to disperse the crowd killing three people and injuring more then 400.
(With Reuters input)
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