A court in Pakistan ordered 100 opposition activists be sent to jail for holding illegal protests, prompting a tense confrontation between demonstrators and police in the centre of the capital Islamabad.

Protesters led by Imran Khan, the former cricket star, and Tahir ul-Qadri, a firebrand cleric, have been locked in a bitter standoff with the government for weeks, refusing to leave their protest camp until prime minister Nawaz Sharif resigns. On Friday, a crowd of protesters gathered outside a court in Islamabad in a protest against its decision to send 100 activists to jail for two weeks.