Bangladeshi Youth Killed in Pakistan Was Missing for Over a Year, Says Family

The Bangladeshi youth reportedly killed by security forces in Pakistan had left the country about a year and a half ago, saying he was going to Dubai, according to his family.

Seventeen members of the banned group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed in a security operation in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday night. Pakistani news outlet Samaa TV reported that one of the deceased was a Bangladeshi national, though his identity was not disclosed.

However, Pakistani journalist Jawad Yusufzai shared two photographs of the deceased on social platform X, identifying one of them as a Bangladeshi. Another platform, Mahaz, which monitors militancy activities in and around Pakistan, also posted a photo of the deceased on X, identifying him as Faisal.

Faisal was 22 years old and hailed from the village of Chhoto Dudhkathi in Kalikapur Union under Madaripur Sadar Upazila, according to his uncle, Abdul Halim, who spoke to BBC Bangla.

"Faisal left the country around March 2024, saying he was going to Dubai," said Mr. Halim. "A week after leaving, he contacted us and said he was in India and would be heading to Dubai from there."

Faisal reportedly kept very limited contact with his family after leaving the country. His uncle said that about three or four months after his departure, Faisal made a sudden phone call and said he had reached India and would soon go to Dubai.

"When we asked for details—who he was with and how he went—he avoided the questions," said Halim. "He said he went with a brother who covered all the expenses, and the money would be deducted from his salary. Whenever we asked for more information, he would quickly hang up."

Later, about a month after that call, Faisal contacted his family again and said he was in Dubai and doing well.

According to Halim, Faisal was a quiet, well-mannered boy who disliked being photographed as he grew older. He was the youngest among three siblings and had lived in Dhaka with his family since birth.

Before leaving the country, Faisal used to sell Islamic items like prayer caps, beads, prayer mats, and books outside mosques and at religious gatherings in Dhaka. His elder brother, Arman, worked at an NGO in Dhaka at the time.

Due to the family’s financial struggles, including the burden of supporting their parents, they had to return to their village in Madaripur.

Mr. Halim mentioned that during the last Eid-ul-Azha, police and detectives (DB) from Madaripur Police Station visited their home asking about Faisal’s whereabouts. “We told them he was in Dubai, but they said, ‘Do you know he’s in Pakistan?’ That was the first time we heard such a thing,” Halim recalled.

The family had asked Faisal to return home, even offering to send him money before Eid. But he refused, saying a lot of money had been spent on him and that returning was not an option.

When asked how they learned of Faisal’s death, Mr. Halim said, “A journalist from Dhaka contacted us on Sunday and sent a photo, asking if this was our son. We immediately recognized Faisal. Later, police and DB officials came to our house.”

Halim has appealed to the government to bring back the body of his nephew and called for justice.

“Those who involve others in such crimes must be brought to justice. No more mothers should have to lose their sons this way,” he said.

Local journalists reported that on Monday, the Faisal family's home in Madaripur was filled with mourners as news of his death spread.

Source: BBC News Bangla