The crackdown brought a swift end to the protests that have gripped Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, this week ever since thousands of people gathered in the city to demand the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister. Mr. Khan has been in prison since last August on charges that his party claims are politically motivated.

The party of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan suspended street protests seeking his release, it said on Wednesday, following media reports of hundreds of arrests by security forces in a sweeping midnight raid in the capital.

PTI also claimed that eight of its workers have allegedly been killed, though police claimed that six people, including four paramilitary forces, have died in the protest.