ISLAMABAD — Following a four-day lockdown, authorities have lifted restrictions on roads linking Pakistan’s capital with the rest of the nation. This decision came after police utilized tear gas and gunfire to disperse supporters of the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had converged on Islamabad to demand his release from incarceration.

“All roads are being reopened, and the demonstrators have been dispersed,” announced Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

During these protests, Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was prominent in leading the demonstration, along with other protestors, managed to escape in vehicles as the police advanced against them amid violent clashes that resulted in at least seven fatalities.

The police intervention occurred just hours after thousands of Khan’s supporters, ignoring government threats, managed to breach a blockade made of shipping containers that had been erected to restrict access to Islamabad, entering a high-security area where confrontations with law enforcement erupted.

Tensions have escalated in Islamabad since Sunday when supporters of the former prime minister initiated a “long march” from the volatile northwest region, advocating for Khan’s release. He has been behind bars for more than a year and is embroiled in over 150 criminal charges that his party contends are driven by political motives.

Since the beginning of the protests on Sunday, hundreds of individuals have been taken into custody.

Bibi and other leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which Khan founded, have retreated to Mansehra in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the party currently maintains governance.

Khan continues to resonate with a significant portion of the opposition and was removed from office in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament.