A capital on lockdown, internet blackouts and protesters clashing with police. What’s going on in Pakistan?

By Helen Regan and Catherine Nicholls, CNN

(CNN) — Pakistan security forces launched a night-time operation Tuesday to disperse thousands of supporters of the country’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, after the crowd broke through barricades and gathered in the capital Islamabad demanding his release.

Authorities had enforced a security lockdown in the country, imposed internet blackouts and barricaded major roads leading to the capital to prevent protesters from entering, after Khan called on supporters to march on parliament.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that protesters could remain on the outskirts of Islamabad, but threatened extreme measures if they entered the city.

Defying the warnings, protesters marched to the edge of the city’s high-security red zone and clashed with security forces, amid volleys of tear gas and reports of mass arrests. Several people reportedly died in the unrest, mostly from the security services.

On Wednesday Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said in a message on X that it was calling off the protests “for the time being.”

Here’s what to know.

What’s happening?

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters set off from the city of Peshawar Sunday as part of a “long march” with the aim of reaching the capital, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) away.

Led by Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – where PTI remains in power – the protesters planned to hold a sit-in at D-Chowk, a large square near the country’s parliament.

Protesters reached the outskirts of Islamabad Monday, defying a two-day security lockdown and a ban on rallies. Along the way, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, and blocked roads with shipping containers to prevent them from pushing through.

Video showed a police post ablaze and several fires on the highway. Reuters reported 22 police vehicles were torched just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in Punjab province.

At least six people, including four security officials, were killed in the protests on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences told CNN earlier on Tuesday that five people had died, including four security officials and one civilian. Multiple sources told CNN a car rammed into them during the protests.

By Tuesday morning, protesters had breached the city limits and marched to D-Chowk, where soldiers could be seen outside key government buildings including parliament, the Supreme Court and the Secretariat.

At midnight, security forces launched a raid to clear protesters and arrested hundreds of people, AP reported.

Though Khan urged his supporters to “fight to the end,” PTI later called off the protests “in view of the government’s brutality.”

Will the protests continue?

Naqvi, Pakistan’s interior minister, said security forces had suffered bullet wounds, but police were “showing restraint” with protesters.

He warned that if protesters crossed the line, security forces had been authorized to fire back, and he could take extra measures including imposing a curfew or deploying the military.

“Rangers could open fire and there will be no protesters there after five minutes,” Naqvi said. “Anyone who reaches here will be arrested.”

The PTI has accused the government of using excessive force, saying “bullets were fired at protesters,” whom it described as peaceful. It said about two dozen protesters had been injured.

CNN cannot independently verify the reports from either side and internet blackouts have compounded communication issues.

In recent days, thousands of Khan supporters have been arrested in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces as authorities tried to prevent the protest march.

Why are they protesting?

Protesters are demanding the release of Khan and what his supporters deem political prisoners. They also want the repeal of a new constitutional amendment which has increased the government’s power to select superior court justices and pick those judges to hear political cases.

Khan’s supporters also believe February elections were not free or fair, calling it a “stolen mandate.”

Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in 2022 and has since led a popular campaign against the current government led by Prime Minister Sharif, accusing it of colluding with the military to remove him from office.

The former star cricketer turned populist politician has been in jail for over a year and faces dozens of criminal cases over allegations ranging from corruption to leaking state secrets, all of which he and his party deny.

Khan and the PTI – the country’s largest opposition party – remain popular, and his detention has turbocharged an already tense showdown between the country’s powerful military and his supporters.

Khan has repeatedly urged his supporters to take to the streets demanding his release, and violence has broken out in several cities.

A march to Islamabad from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in early October demanding Khan’s release was met with similar road blockades and mobile and internet cuts and ended in clashes with police.

The protests come at a sensitive time for Pakistan, which has seen a wave of sectarian violence and separatist militant attacks that have killed dozens of people in recent months.

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