A prominent Pakistani television journalist who went missing last week, apparently because of his public support to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, returned home early Tuesday after being released by his captors, his family and his employer said.

Sami Abrahim's brother, Ali Raza, took to Twitter to confirm his release. BOL TV confirmed his release in a news announcement.

Abrahim went missing Thursday when eight people in four vehicles intercepted his car on his way back home from work in the capital, Islamabad, and took him away, according to his family and BOL TV where Abrahim works.

No one had claimed responsibility for Abrahim's abduction, but it is widely believed that he was being held by the country's security agencies, which are notorious for abducting, harassing and torturing journalists.

Abrahim has long publicly opposed the government of Khan's successor, Premier Shahbaz Sharif. Khan, a former cricket star who became an Islamist politician, was in office in 2018-2022 and was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament last year.

Another pro-Khan TV journalist, Imran Riaz, went missing earlier this month and was yet to be freed.