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Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan broke through shipping container barricades in Islamabad on Tuesday, as protest-related violence left at least six people dead.
Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, and scores were injured, including journalists reportedly attacked by Mr Khan’s supporters.
Among the dead were four security personnel and a civilian, killed when a vehicle rammed into them.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused protesters of causing the soldiers' deaths by ramming paramilitary troops with vehicles.
Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesman for Imran Khan's political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, or PTI, says two protesters were also killed, and 30 injured, in the worst political violence seen in months.
PTI says they planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Mr Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.
The protesters, led by Mr Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, are demanding his release and the government’s resignation.
Shahzor Ali was among the protestors.
“We are here only on Imran Khan's call, Imran Khan told us to come here for not for him, but for ours and our country's sakes. That’s the reason we are here. We will stay here until Khan himself is here with us and tells us what to do next.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ruled out negotiations, accusing the demonstrators of being armed, using weapons against security forces, and violating a city-wide ban on gatherings.
Among the protesters is university professor Fareeda Bibi.
"We have really suffered for the last two years, whether it is economically, whether it is politically, whether it is socially, internationally, we have been ruined. I have never seen such a Pakistan in my life. I have seen 1971 when half the country was divided and we lost East Pakistan, there was not this kind of despair at that time.”
Pakistan's army has since taken control of the town square in Islamabad's government district known as D-Chowk, near key government buildings and where visiting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is currently being hosted.
Paramilitary rangers and police, some firing warning shots, were also deployed in large numbers.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says the state was showing restraint but accused Ms Bibi of wanting bloodshed.
"There's still tear gas being fired...from there, tear gas is being thrown at the police. There will be a severe reaction, the state is showing great patience, and the state does not want you (referring to Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi) to fulfill your objectives because Bushra Bibi has planned it so that we kill people, and she wants bloodshed here.”
