Political unrest surged Thursday in Pakistan, with police cracking down on supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan amid protests and violence in the nuclear-armed nation following his arrest this week.

Authorities detained more than 1,000 people in overnight raids, a day after Mr. Khan pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in a case that has shaken the South Asian nation, long a precarious strategic partner of the United States.

The turbulence now rocking Pakistan, an Islamic country, could trigger wider instability in the region, including in neighboring Afghanistan, where a hardline Islamist Taliban government swept to power following the withdrawal of U.S. forces from that nation in 2021.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday ordered the military into the streets of the capital of Islamabad, where protests raged following Mr. Khan’s arraignment.

Video showed dozens of security officers forcibly removing the 70-year-old from court and bundling him into a police vehicle, according to the BBC. In a case brought by Pakistan’s Election Commission, the former prime minister is charged with unlawfully selling state gifts during his time in office. Mr. Khan has denied any wrongdoing.

The Pakistani military has a complicated role in the current developments. A New York Times report on Thursday noted that the military was accused of paving the route to power for Mr. Khan when he became prime minister in 2018. But when he was ousted in April 2022, it was with the perception of a military green light to remove him, after he had begun antagonizing its generals, the paper reported.

Pakistani police said Thursday that nearly 1,600 Khan supporters had been detained overnight on charges of attacking military installations and damaging public property.

The crackdown came after mobs became violent in several cities. In one incident, following Mr. Khan’s arrest on Tuesday, a mob reportedly set fire to the sprawling residence of a top army commander in Lahore, an eastern Pakistani city.

At least 10 people have been killed and dozens injured in clashes between protesters and police.

The Associated Press has characterized the turmoil as unprecedented in the country accustomed to past military takeovers, political crises and violence.

The current situation echoes unrest that followed the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election rally in the military garrison city of Rawalpindi. Her supporters at the time rampaged for days across Pakistan.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.

• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.