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.

Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said a “massacre” unfolded in Pakistan and the armed forces fired live rounds, killing “hundreds of people” and many injured with gunshot wounds. It did not give a number as to how many were killed.

Bushra Khan, the wife of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, emerged from the shadows this week to lead one of the country's largest protests, mobilizing thousands in support of her jailed husband.