Setting the stage for aconfrontation, Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri led thousands ofprotesters armed with wire cutters who broke barricades andforced their way towards Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif'sofficial residence pressing for his immediate resignation. 
Raising slogans against Sharif and his government,protesters marched from the National Assembly to the PrimeMinister's House, some 500 metres away, shortly after Khan,chief of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Qadri, heading thePakistan Awami Tehreek, announced a shift of the protestvenue.

The protesters used crane and bolt cutters to inch theirway past a barricade of shipping containers as authoritiesrushed forces to deal with the volatile situation.

Before the protesters set off on their march, the InteriorMinistry announced that soldiers would be deployed to stop theprotesters.

On a day of dramatic developments, Sharif left for Lahore. Both Khan and Qadri have been demanding the ouster ofSharif with Khan alleging that last year's general electionwas rigged.