At least seven people have been killed when Pakistani police clashed with followers of an influential preacher in the eastern city of Lahore.
The clashes involved supporters of cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri who resides in Canada but came to Pakistan last year to lead a major anti-corruption march prior to elections.
The cleric, who is widely seen as a religious moderate, is due to return on June 23 where he hopes to lead a "peaceful revolution" against the current system of governance.
The violence came as Pakistan's military is engaged in a major offensive against Taliban militants in the country's restive northwest and could put political pressure on the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"We received seven dead bodies including two women. All of them had bullet wounds," said Doctor Abdul Rauf, Medical Superintendent at the city's Jinnah Hospital, on Tuesday.
"We also received 80 injured, 40 with bullet injuries and 40 with other wounds. Two injured are critical," he said.
Abdul Jabbar, a senior police officer, said the clashes began when police went to the office of Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), meaning Pakistan People's Movement, in the city's Model Town suburb on Monday night.
"The PAT activists resisted the operations which caused clashes between the protesters and police," he said.
"We went to the area again during the morning with additional force. The PAT activists pelted stones on policemen and our force used tear gas to disperse them. We managed to complete the operation and remove the barriers despite the resistance," he added.
Abdul Hafeez, a spokesman for the PAT said up to 12 workers had been killed.
"We pelted stones to resist direct firing by police over protesters."
Shahid Mursaleen, another spokesman for the party, accused Prime Minister Sharif of having a direct hand in the killings.
"These killings have been made on the orders of Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. We will register police cases against Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and their team," he said.
"We are a peaceful party but if such brutal acts by the government continue, our workers will come on roads and then they will get out of Doctor Qadri's control," he added.
Qadri led a rally of 100,000 people to the capital ahead of last year's elections where he gave the government an ultimatum to start initiating reform or face the prospect of prolonged protest.
Qadri is viewed as a religious moderate and has authored numerous books as well as a fatwa denouncing suicide bombs.
