Opposition supporters in Pakistan have temporarily called off protests demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, a day after marching on central Islamabad. Protesters had vowed not to leave the capital until Khan's release.

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.

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.