Pakistani authorities arrested nearly 1,000 supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan who stormed the capital this week to demand his release, the city's police chief said on Wednesday night.

Khan's aides alleged, without immediately providing evidence, that hundreds had suffered gunshot wounds during chaotic scenes overnight in the heart of Islamabad as police dispersed protesters led by Khan's wife who had broken through security barricades. They also said thousands had been arrested.

Islamabad's police chief, Ali Rizvi, denied that live ammunition had been used during the operation, which he said police had conducted alongside paramilitary forces, Reuters reported.

Rizvi said 600 protesters had been arrested in Tuesday's operation, bringing the total since the protest sit-in began on Sunday to 954.

He said weapons, including automatic rifles and tear gas guns, were seized from the protest site where thousands had gathered. The site was cleared in a matter of hours.

Ali Amin Gandapur, a top Khan aide and chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was a part of the protests and fled when the operation began, accused the authorities of using excessive force against protesters who he said were peaceful.

He said "hundreds" had sustained bullet wounds.

Pakistan's information minister and an Islamabad police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the allegation.

"Both Imran Khan's wife and I were attacked directly," Gandapur told a press conference in the city of Mansehra, in the province he rules.

Khan's wife Bushra Khan escaped unhurt. Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had said she would address the press conference with Gandapur, but she did not appear even though the event was delayed by hours.

PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari PTI said earlier that the protest seeking Khan's release had been called off, citing what he called "the massacre". But Gandapur said the protest would continue until Khan himself called it off.

At least six people - four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters - had been killed in the protests before the overnight clashes, according to PTI.

But the office of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denied this. "As of now, no death has been reported, and the claims circulating regarding any such incidents are baseless and unverified," it said in a statement.

Visiting protest sites on Wednesday, Naqvi said law enforcement agencies had successfully cleared protesters from the site of the sit-in and other areas of the capital.

He called on PTI to provide any evidence of the firing of live ammunition by security forces, and said it had not provided any details of deaths of its supporters.

Geo News and broadcaster ARY both said security forces had raided the site in central Islamabad in complete darkness, and that a barrage of tear gas had been fired.

The protesters were almost completely dispersed, they added.

On Wednesday, city workers were clearing debris and moving away some of the shipping containers authorities had used to block roads around the capital.

The red zone - the fortified area that is home to parliament, the diplomatic enclave and other key buildings - was empty of protesters, but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck used by Bushra Khan that appeared charred by flames.

The PTI had planned on maintaining a sit-in in the red zone until Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, was freed.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party suspended street protests on Wednesday after a sweeping midnight raid by security forces in the capital Islamabad in which hundreds of people were arrested, local media reported.

According to a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) statement, a "temporary suspension" of the protest has been agreed to. 

The protest has left at least six people dead, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters.

Thousands of protesters had gathered in the centre of Islamabad on Tuesday after a convoy, led by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city's highly fortified red zone.

Geo News reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces in a pitch-dark central Islamabad, where lights had been turned off and a barrage of teargas was fired. 

The protest gathering was almost completely dispersed, they reported.

On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing some of the shipping containers that had blocked roads around the capital. 

The heavily fortified red zone was empty of protesters but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck from which Bushra Bibi had been leading the protests that appeared charred by flames, according to Reuters witnesses.

PTI had planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.

PTI's president for the city of Peshawar in the party's northern stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the party had called off the protest.

"We will chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation,” Mohammad Asim told Reuters.

He said that Bushra Bibi as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned "safely" to the province from the capital.

At least five security personnel have been killed and dozens were reported injured after Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan's supporters entered Islamabad on Monday night.

Pakistan's government has vowed to take every action needed to bring the situation under control. The army was also given “shoot-at-sight” orders.

The clashes erupted after Imran Khan's supporters gathered for a protest demanding his release from prison.

Supporters broke through barricades of shipping containers designed to lock down the city. However, the unrest escalated as police used tear gas to disperse crowds.

Pakistani media claims that among those injured and journalists.

Meanwhile, Associated Press (AP) reported that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued a stern warning to demonstrators, threatening to respond with live ammunition if protesters fired at law enforcement.

“If they again fire bullets, the bullet will be responded with the bullet,” he said shortly after midnight.

AP also reported that one of its journalists sustained head injuries in the clashes and that his camera was destroyed.
The PTI rally, despite a court ban on protests in the capital, saw thousands of supporters converge approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from Islamabad’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings.

Authorities had proposed alternative rally locations outside the city, but the offer was rejected by PTI.

The violence coincides with an official visit by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, adding to the tension. Naqvi reiterated the government’s stance, stating that only the courts have the authority to release Khan.