1 Pak protester killed in police firing near Sharif house

Utter chaos prevailed in the VIP area of the Pakistan capital late tonight with the 17-day-old standoff between protesters and the government taking a new turn after thousands of protesters armed with lathis broke through security cordons and were marching towards the residence of the besieged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
One woman was killed in police firing and 50 other protesters were injured.
However, a section of the Pakistani media put the death toll at seven, although the figure could not be confirmed.
Police opened fire and used tear gas and lathicharged the protesters led by Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri, which had laid seige to key buildings such as the National Assembly and Supreme Court since August 14 suddenly used cutters to penetrate barbed wire barricades.

Close to midnight, turmoil prevailed in the heart of Islamabad after a number of demonstrators refused to disperse from the protest site.
As tension mounted, Sharif left for Lahore. A late night government announcement categorically ruled out Sharif's resignation.