Venezuelan lawmakers on Wednesday were attacked by a pro-government mob of armed men who take orders from the government of President Nicolas Maduro, The New York Times reported.

The attack left at least 15 injured, including one lawmaker who went to the hospital with broken ribs and a head wound. Scenes on social media showed masked people kicking and punching lawmakers outside the Palacio Federal Legislativo building in Caracas and inside the chamber of commerce. Journalists were also attacked and some robbed of their equipment.

Two days earlier, opposition lawmakers challenged Maduro with an unofficial referendum to let Venezuelans voice their opinions on his plan to rewrite the constitution. In late March, opposition legislators branded Maduro a dictator.

Protests in Venezuela have this year grown into the most combative since a wave of unrest in 2014. Anti-government protesters want Maduro to step down and accuse him of eroding democracy at a time when the country keeps spiraling into a deep economic crises.

"We're here to defend Venezuela; that's what we were elected to do," Armando Armas, an opposition lawmaker who was injured in the melee Wednesday, said in a video. "Even if it costs us our lives."

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