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.

Islamabad's police chief, Ali Rizvi, denied that live ammunition was used during the operation, which was carried out in conjunction with paramilitary forces.

Authorities have reopened roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the country, ending a four-day lockdown, after using tear gas and firing into the air to disperse supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan who demanded his release from prison.