Outrage: The 300-strong group carried placards saying 'Down with Charlie Hebdo' during the rally in Lahore Outrage: The 300-strong group carried placards saying 'Down with Charlie Hebdo' during the rally in Lahore

Pakistani activists on Thursday called for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists to be hanged for drawing the Prophet Mohammed on its latest front cover, according to a report.

Some 300 people rallied in the eastern city of Lahore, carrying placards saying Down with Charlie Hebdo??, the Mail online reported.

One banner read: Making blasphemy cartoon of the Prophet is the worst act of terrorism. The sketch-makers must be hanged immediately.??

Cartoonist Renald Luzier, who drew the image, had argued earlier this week that there should be no exceptions to freedom of expression, according to Mail online.

The Lahore rally came as Pakistani lawmakers staged their own demonstrations outside parliament after passing a resolution condemning the image of Islam's prophet in the French satirical newspaper.

The front cover shows a weeping Mohammed, holding a sign reading 'I am Charlie' with the words 'All is forgiven' above him.

Like many other Muslim nations, Pakistan has condemned last week's deadly rampage at the office of Charlie Hebdo which killed 12 people, including editors, cartoonists and two policemen.

But the authorities have also condemned the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims consider sacrilege.

The magazine has invoked freedom of speech to defend its publications of cartoons that many Muslims and non-Muslims alike consider offensive.

Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by its global chief to avenge the French magazine's cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

It said the orders had come from the very top of the global jihadist network - Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who succeeded Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden after his death in 2011.