GOVERNMENT supporters clashed with opposition protesters today on the second day of twin marches to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Thousands of protesters left Lahore by convoy on Thursday and were expected to arrive in Islamabad late yesterday, where they have vowed to camp out until their demands for a new government are met and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns.

The twin protests are led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and anti-Taliban cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri.

As the march led by Mr Khan passed through the city of Gujranwala yesterday, it was reported that supporters of Mr Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N hurled stones at the convoy.

However, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah claimed that both sides threw stones at each other.

Gujranwala police said some 200 ruling party supporters had clashed with Mr Khan’s protesters but “the situation is under control.”

There were conflicting reports of whether someone in the crowd had started shooting.

A spokesman for Mr Khan said that his vehicle had been hit with gunfire, but the politician was uninjured.

Ppolice insisted that there had been no shots fired.

The cricketer and the cleric are planning to stage sit-ins in Islamabad until the prime minister resigns.

Both Mr Khan and Mr Qadri have said they will draw a million of their followers onto the streets of Islamabad.

However, only about 10,000 were reported to be travelling with the marches, though those numbers could swell when they reach the capital.

Ahead of the rally, thousands of riot police were deployed across the capital. Authorities set up shipping containers to block traffic and cut off mobile phone service in some areas.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan apologised to residents for the city’s paralysis, insisting the measures were for their own safety.

He warned that demonstrators would face an “an iron hand” if they tried to disrupt law and order.

The twin protest movements represent the toughest challenge yet for Prime Minister Sharif, who won his third term in office  in a landslide victory in May 2013.

The protesters are demanding new elections under the supervision of a neutral power.