Karim Mia had hoped the war would end. But it may have ended his life

A Narsingdi migrant worker who left home to support his family is believed to have been killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon

Karim Mia left his village in Narsingdi’s Shibpur 12 years ago, hoping labour abroad would lift his family out of hardship. Instead, war reached the place where he had built a fragile life -- and, according to his family, ended it.

The middle-aged Bangladeshi worker, employed at a grocery shop in Lebanon, is believed to have been killed late Monday night when an Israeli drone struck his residence in Nabatieh’s Mayfadoun in southern Lebanon.

His death has not been officially confirmed, as his body has not yet been identified.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut said in a statement on Tuesday that it had learned through different sources of the deaths of two Bangladeshis, including Karim and another migrant worker from Satkhira.

However, it added that identification of the bodies had not been possible, and confirmation was still pending as local contacts were being pursued.

Earlier, both men had been reported missing by the embassy. Their families were informed of their presumed deaths on Tuesday night.

A wider escalation across West Asia has already claimed the lives of at least 10 Bangladeshi nationals in different countries, including five in Lebanon, two each in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and one in Bahrain.

Karim, the second son of Kazem Ali and Moya Begum of Haronkhola village in Dulalpur Union, is survived by his wife Sharifa Begum, a 13-year-old son and a 1 and a half-year-old daughter.

He spoke almost daily with his family, often trying to reassure them despite growing anxiety as conflict spread across the region.

His final conversation came on Saturday night, when he told his wife he believed the war might end within a week.

“War will end, don’t worry,” he had told her.

On Monday morning, a man called his wife and asked: “Are you Karim’s wife?” Moments later came the devastating message that he was no longer alive.

The news cast a pall of grief across his village, where relatives and neighbours gathered in shock. His elderly mother has been largely speechless since hearing the news.

His family has appealed to the government to repatriate his body, though the embassy says it has not yet been able to locate or identify the remains.