Islamabad, Pakistan – Hundreds of angry protestors clashed with police in Pakistan's major cities on Friday after a gun attack and assassination attempt on former prime minister Imran Khan was blamed on the government.

Khan, who was ousted by a vote of no confidence by the parliament earlier this year, was shot twice in the legs on Thursday and was receiving hospital treatment, his doctor Faisal Sultan said.

Khan was leading a protest rally as part of his plan to march on the capital Islamabad to pressure the government to call snap elections when his convoy came under attack.

He is in stable condition and addressed the nation from his hospital bed following the attack. The populist leader blamed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, his interior minister, and a senior military officer from the intelligence services for planning his assassination and demanded their removal.

On Friday, Khan's followers threw stones at security forces at one of the major entrances of the capital Islamabad, police official Mohamed Irshad said.

Police reacted by firing teargas shells and rubber bullets at protesters.

The violence continued in cities throughout the county.

In the eastern city of Lahore, several hundred protesters set the main gate of the governor's house in the central province of Punjab on fire and blocked several roads in the city of more than 10 million people, local official Abdul Shakoor said.

In the country’s financial capital Karachi in the south, police and protesters engaged in clashes for several hours. Dozens of protesters were arrested.

Police arrested a suspect immediately after the attack, who had confessed to shooting at Khan in a bid to kill him.

Footage shot during the interrogation of the shooter suggested he was religiously motivated. He said he was angry at Khan’s alleged statements equating his political struggle to that of Muslim Prophet Mohamed.

Khan came to power after a controversial victory in national elections in 2018 that were tainted by the allegations of manipulation by the country’s powerful military in favor of him.