President of Pakistan has called a joint session of parliament today as clashes between security forces and protesters continue.

The protesters continue to stay in the capital Islamabad. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters near government buildings.

Thousands of demonstrators – some wielding batons and throwing stones – moved on the main building housing Pakistan's federal bureaucracy and Prime Minister's House.

It was the third day of clashes yesterday in Islamabad's high security red zone. Earlier Pakistan's national television channel was briefly taken off air after anti-government protesters stormed its headquarters.

Protesters loyal to opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri want Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign. Sharif said he will neither resign nor go on leave.

Addressing a meeting of leaders of political parties in Islamabad, Sharif said he will not allow to set a precedent under which a few people make hostage mandate of millions of people.

Sharif also met the country's powerful army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif, for talks on the crisis. Army has dismissed charges that it is backing Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri in anyway in the current political standoff.

In a statement, it said that Army is an apolitical institution and has expressed its unequivocal support for democracy at numerous occasions.

The Army's statement came soon after a senior leader of Imran Khan's party, Javed Hashmi, pointed fingers at the Army and the ISI for planning the anti-government protests to topple the Nawaz Sharif government.