Thousands of protesters have begun to flee Islamabad since Pakistan’s security forces began a crackdown on unrest early Wednesday morning.
An operation cleared protesters from a square near Pakistan’s parliament, where activists from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, had planned to stage a sit-in until he was freed from prison.
The unrest has resulted in at least nine deaths, while more than 400 PTI members had been arrested, officials said.
Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s interior minister, said protest leaders, including Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, had escaped.
