Alleged attacks took place in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire against two prominent supporters of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan

Three men have been charged after a series of “highly targeted” attacks against two Pakistani dissidents living in Britain.

Police carried out a series of seven raids and arrests this week in London, Essex and the Midlands after four attacks, which began on Christmas Eve.

The attacks took place in Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire against two prominent supporters of the jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.

One of the victims, human rights lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a former member of Khan’s cabinet, told the Guardian he had been punched up to 30 times by a man who knocked on his door and checked his identity.