The arrest of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has sparked deadly civil unrest around the country, leading the government to call in the army and sparking concern of a wider political breakdown.

With Khan's supporters storming military buildings, apparently "ready to take on the state apparatus" in response to the cricketer-turned-politician's detention, experts warn the situation is "exceptionally volatile" and could even spell trouble for neighboring countries.

Here's what you need to know about his arrest, why it's such an explosive issue in Pakistan, and what it could mean for the rest of the region. 

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What's happened this week?

The former prime minister – Pakistan's most popular political leader, according to polls – was arrested on corruption charges in Islamabad on Tuesday while appearing at the capital's High Court. 

Khan – a vocal opponent of both the current government and his former allies, Pakistan's powerful military – has been the focus of dozens of legal cases since he was removed from power, with security forces trying to detain him on a number of occasions. 

Up until now, they have been stopped by the former leader's supporters amid fierce clashes. However, with Islamabad police blocking many of his supporters from entering the capital on Tuesday, he was finally arrested, triggering riots across the country. 

Protesters stormed military buildings, ransacked the residence of a top army general in the eastern city of Lahore, and set ablaze state buildings and assets in other places. At least seven people were killed and 27 injured in the city of Peshawar after violence broke out between protesters and police. In ​Khan's hometown province of Punjab​, nearly 1,650 people were arrested. 

"Such a spectacle has never been witnessed in the last 75 years," Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, said in a televised address. "People were made hostages in their vehicles, patients were taken out of the ambulances and later, those vehicles were torched."

Just 24 hours after his detention, Khan was indicted by a judge at a local station for allegedly selling state gifts during his premiership between 2018 and 2022. He was set to remain in custody for eight days. 

However, Pakistan's top court on Thursday ruled his arrest was illegal and ordered the anti-corruption agency that detained him to release the former prime minister.

Members of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called his arrest a "state abduction," claiming the hastened hearing was a "kangaroo court." 

Pakistani authorities have since taken at least three senior leaders of Khan's opposition party into custody as the government called out the army to help end widespread and deadly protests sparked by his arrest.

Tensions remained high around the country on Thursday with paramilitary troops and police on the streets in major cities, with mobile data services still suspended and schools and offices closed in two of Pakistan's four provinces.

The military said in a statement it had shown restraint during earlier violence but any further attacks on the military or law enforcement agencies, state installations and properties "will be met with severe retaliation."

What exactly is Khan accused of?

The corruption case for which Khan was indicted is one of more than 100 registered against the leader and follows a decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan last year to block him from holding public office.

In Wednesday's  trial, government officials alleged the former premier and his wife used a charitable trust as a front to receive millions of dollars in land, a purported bribe from real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain, one of Pakistan's richest and most powerful businessmen.

Hussain is said to have given nearly 60 acres of land worth 7 billion Pakistani rupees ($24.7 million) and another large piece of land in Islamabad close to Khan's hilltop home via the ex-leader's trust. 

That's after the government allegedly used repatriated British money to pay for fines levied by a court against Hussain for the illegal acquisition of state lands at cut-market value.

Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, a lawmaker from Pakistan's ruling coalition who was a plaintiff in the case against Khan on state gifts, confirmed his indictment and said the former premier had put the "country's peace at stake."

Khan and his aides have denied any wrongdoing in all cases against him, accusing the government and the army of trying to silence Pakistan's rapidly growing opposition movement. 

Why is the situation so volatile?

The South Asian country of 220 million people is grappling with a severe economic crisis. Pakistan's rupee has lost nearly 50 percent over the past 12 months while a stalled $6.5 billion International Monetary Fund programme has left few other financing sources in sight.

This has piled pressure on the current government, exacerbating tensions with Khan's opposition movement, which has continued to grow since he was stripped of power last year in a parliamentary vote.

"Pakistani society is politically polarized, especially within Punjab, which remains the political heartland of the country," Umer Karim, a Pakistan and Middle East researcher at the University of Birmingham tells CGTN Europe. "All recent surveys and polls have put Imran Khan nearly double the lead to his next contender." 

"Khan is leading the way and this popularity has actually translated now into these protests and huge mobilizations which shows that people are not only supporting Imran Khan, but they are ready to go out onto the streets and to take on the state apparatus because of this arrest."

If the former premier is convicted of any of the charges he is accused of, he faces being barred from holding public office, with a national election scheduled for November. In turn, Khan has accused both the government and the armed forces – one of Pakistan's most powerful institutions, having ruled the country for much of its history – of trying to sabotage him and his party. 

In fact, Khan's arrest on Tuesday came the day after the military rebuked him for repeatedly accusing a senior military officer of trying to engineer his assassination during a November attack while he was leading a march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections. Khan also claimed the former armed forces chief was behind his removal from power last year.

Khan had enjoyed a close relationship with the military while in power, but after he was removed from office he became highly critical of its top leaders. The military has denied his allegations, with its media wing releasing a rare statement this week calling the outbreaks of violence a "black chapter" for Pakistan and alleging an anti-military "conspiracy" to push Pakistan into a civil war.

The government has also refuted any 'political victimization' of Khan, but in the last 24 hours, two more leaders from the ex-premier's party have been arrested, including its spokesperson, a former foreign minister and an ex-finance minister. Islamabad police said the PTI leaders had been arrested "for inciting arson and violent protests under a well-thought out plan for threatening peace." 

What does this mean for regional security?

As the army is pulled in to quell the protests, fears remain that violence could spill over into a wider political crisis between the government, the military, and Khan's supporters. 

In an address to the nation late on Wednesday, Pakistan's current prime minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a stark warning to the rioters: "These terrorist and anti-state elements are being warned to desist from taking the law into their hands, otherwise they will be dealt with with iron hands. Safeguarding the motherland and its ideology is more precious than their lives," he said.

A further escalation between the state and the opposition could spell disaster for Pakistan's already fraught security situation, particularly in its northern regions where support is strongest for Khan.

"This is really bad news for countries like China and the security situation," says Umer Karim. "There has been an uptick in violence and acts of terrorism within one province that borders Afghanistan and the Pakistan Taliban has increased its attacks in the last few months.

"These provinces don't have a representative government, they were meant to be holding elections," he tells CGTN Europe. "They are basically run by an interim setup that doesn't have any legitimacy within the people." 

"That complicates the situation even further and makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to enforce the regional state and I think that this will only increase with this new chaos adding up."

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