DEMONSTRATIONS in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad turned deadly today as one person was killed in clashes between protesters and security forces.

It will further inflame rising tensions between the government and former cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, who has questioned the country’s election results.

Tensions have been escalating for weeks between the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, which alleges widespread vote-rigging in the 2013 elections which brought the present government to power.

Tehrik-e-Insaf has vowed to shut down a number of Pakistani cities as part of its campaign for a recount.

Demonstrators clashed with police, many in riot gear.

Pakistani television showed images of protesters hurling rocks and pushing against lines of police.

Doctors at the city’s main hospital said they had received the body of one man, who appeared to have been shot dead.

Three others, including a policeman, were admitted to hospital.

Both sides blamed the other for the violence.

A Faisalabad police official said that groups of Khan supporters had been gathering at various spots around the city, clashing with authorities.

A spokeswoman for Tehrik-e-Insaf said its supporters had been peaceful and blamed Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N.

However, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial government insisted that people clashing with Mr Khan’s supporters were not aligned with the ruling party, although Faisalabad is a major stronghold for the Sharif government.