The lockdown in the capital has been lifted after protesters, who had forced their way into the city on Tuesday amid deadly clashes, cleared.
Pakistan’s security forces have pushed out supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the capital, Islamabad, following a sweeping crackdown overnight.
Authorities reopened roads linking the city with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday, confirming that the capital had been cleared.
Security forces have arrested hundreds of protesters as part of the operation that cleared thousands who had thronged the city center to demand the release of a politician who claims the charges are politically motivated.
On Wednesday, city workers were cleaning debris and clearing shipping containers set up by authorities to block roads leading into the capital, preventing protesters from marching.
It was called by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and had planned to stage a sit-in to pressure for the release of Khan, jailed since August 2023 over more than 150 cases. The cricketer-turned-politician says that the cases were to stop his return in contested elections this year.
Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, led the convoy that broke through security lines Tuesday into the edge of the Red Zone, which contains government buildings and embassies.
