Born in Slavonski Brod in present-day Croatia, Karić started playing football at nearby Bosanski Brod, a town across the river Sava in today's Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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According to Karić, he had been arrested by the JNA in 1992 and was taken to Pale, the Serbian stronghold during the Siege of Sarajevo, where he was delivered as a prisoner to Serbian paramilitary forces.