Imran Khan's supporters end protests after Pakistan crackdown

Pakistan’s opposition party of former prime minister Imran Khan ended its protest in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday as the government arrested hundreds of its supporters in an overnight crackdown after two days of deadly demonstrations.

The “law enforcement force cleared the main avenue” in Islamabad, according to a statement by the interior ministry early morning. Top leaders of Khan’s party including his wife Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur who were leading the protest, escaped from the area, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters after the crackdown.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has called off the protest after the government’s “brutal action,” Atif Khan, a lawmaker of Khan’s party, said in a text message.

The protest that began on Sunday killed four security officials in clashes with the protesters, according to the government. At least eight protesters died in gunshots fired by security officials, Khan’s party said in a statement. Both sides denied that they took any actions that led to deaths.

Thousands of supporters of the jailed leader breached roadblocks and clashed with the police for the past three days to converge in Islamabad, defying efforts by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to stop them from entering the city. This roiled the financial markets on Tuesday on concern a prolonged protest may hurt efforts to stabilize the South Asian nation’s economy.

The benchmark KSE-100 index jumped 4.8% at provisional close on Wednesday, the most since since July 2023, and recovering its losses of 3.2% from a day earlier.

The protesters gathered near the so called Red Zone on Tuesday and the party announced to stage a sit-in till the government accepted their demand of releasing Khan from jail. The former cricket star is facing more than 150 cases from corruption to misuse of power when he was the premier for about four years until 2022.

The search operation is ongoing and a large number of protesters who started a sit-in in Islamabad to demand Khan’s release from jail have been arrested, information minister Tarar told ARY News earlier. The main protest area has been cleared and all the barricades will be removed on Wednesday, he said.

The protest is seen as the biggest political challenge since Sharif’s coalition government took power after national elections in February. The premier has said such protests are a distraction to his government, which is trying to reform the country’s weak economy by taking difficult decisions under the International Monetary Fund’s new loan program. Those include taxing agriculture and retail sectors that have resisted attempts in the past.