Supporters of Iran-backed militias clashed Friday with Iraqi security forces outside the fortified Green Zone complex as tensions spiked over the results of national elections last month.

At least 125 people were injured, according to Iraq’s Health Ministry. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most powerful militias, said three people had been killed.Iran-backed groups have been demanding a recount of the Oct. 10 parliamentary election results, which saw Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party secure the most seats even though the influential Fatah alliance of Iran-linked parties won more votes. The discrepancy appears to be the result of a superior electoral strategy on the part of Sadr’s party.

After the Fatah alliance saw its seats in parliament cut by about two-thirds, militia supporters began camping outside the gated Green Zone, which is home to government offices and foreign embassies. For several weeks, the protesters have rotated shifts inside tents on the sidewalk or sitting outside under banners that denounce Iraq’s election as fraudulent.

On Thursday, the alliance decided to escalate, urging supporters to storm the Green Zone and calling the demonstration Friday their “last chance.” When they arrived at two separate gates, security forces opened fire at protesters.

The protesters, however, did not disperse. By late afternoon in an area to the south of the Green Zone, young men were pounding sections of the sidewalk into pieces, before hurling them at security forces. “Why are you just standing there?” one of the men called to others gathered. “Come and stone them with us!”

When asked by a reporter why protesters had not dispersed outside the Green Zone as security forces tried to push them back, militia representatives said they had received orders for their cadres to stay put.

The Health Ministry said almost 100 of those treated for injuries were from the security forces. “We follow with great anger the hideous state of repression with which the government authorities deal with peaceful demonstrators,” said Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Fatah alliance.

Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Iran-linked Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, condemned the violence and urged justice for the wounded demonstrators. “Whoever they were, they must be held accountable,” he said, referring to the security forces.

Iraq’s military said Friday that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had ordered an investigation into the violence.

The escalation came as Sadr and his representatives met in Baghdad with leaders of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties, raising the prospect that he would move ahead with the formation of a government that would marginalize Iran-linked factions.