Unidentified assailants have fired shots at the home of a lawyer representing Pakistan's suspended chief justice.

No one was injured in Thursday's attack, but the incident has added to the tension over Iftikhar Chaudhry's controversial dismissal by General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president.

Chaudhry has drawn popular support for his opposition to governmental malpractice.

Munir Malik, the lawyer, and police said about 15 shots were fired before dawn towards his house in Karachi.

Two shots hit an upstairs lounge where Malik said his 17-year-old daughter was sitting at a computer.

The attack came two days before a planned rally in the southern city in support of Chaudhry who drew large crowds of supporters earlier in the week when he addressed lawyers in Lahore.

Malik said it was part of a campaign of intimidation against those working for the reinstatement of the supreme court's suspended chief justice.

Widespread protests

Chaudhry's suspension triggered countrywide protests and calls for Musharraf to step down.

Malik said: "It will not deter me from representing the chief justice and we will carry on our campaign for the independence of the judiciary."

He stopped short of naming any specific suspects.

Pakistan has been slipping towards political crisis ever since Musharraf, a significant ally of the US, suspended Chaudhry on March 9 over allegations of misconduct.

The government insists the move was not political and said it has evidence that Chaudhry sought unwarranted favours for himself and relatives - something the judge denies.

But its action has angered lawyers, drawn wide condemnation in the media and galvanised Pakistan's fragmented political opposition, which is intensifying its campaign against Musharraf's plan to seek another term as president later this year.

PHOTO CAPTION

Lawyers and supporters of suspended Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry share sweets to celebrate a ruling by the Supreme Court in Islamabad May 7, 2007. (Reuters)