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A man arrested in Sudan and extradited to Italy accused of being a top people-smuggler says the authorities have got the wrong man.

Earlier this week, prosecutors announced the capture of trafficking kingpin Mered Medhanie. But the man currently being held in jail says he is instead Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe, his lawyer says.

He has been questioned by a judge and his legal situation is expected to be defined in the coming days. The reported capture of Mered Medhanie, dubbed The General, was hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against people-smugglers who send thousands of migrants on dangerous boats to Europe.

Investigators say Mered Medhanie was responsible for the deaths of 359 migrants who drowned when their boat sank off the Italian coast in October 2013. The arrested man was seized by Sudanese police last month with the help of British and Italian authorities.

But doubts began to emerge soon after this week’s extradition, with friends and family saying that the man seen handcuffed being escorted off a plane was not the suspected trafficker.

Two women said to be sisters of Medhanie Tesfarmariam Berhe said he was the one arrested instead. He was said to be a 27-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker. Italian prosecutors say checks are being carried out.

Bangladesh police say they have detained about 900 suspected militants following a series of attacks on minority and secular citizens.

Police launched operations overnight against Islamist extremists suspected of involvement in the attacks.

About 40 people, including secular bloggers, academics and members of religious minorities, have been killed in attacks in the past few years.

On Friday, a Hindu monastery worker was hacked to death in Pabna district. Nityaranjan Pande, who was in his 60s, died on the spot after several people attacked him, reports said.

In the past week, a Hindu priest, a Christian grocer, and the wife of an anti-terror police officer were all killed in attacks by suspected militants. Secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, and other members of religious minorities are also among those to have been killed in recent months.

Police have made a list of suspects wanted for more than 40 targeted killings over the past three years, based on intelligence reports, a senior police officer, who asked to remain anonymous.

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There was collusion between some police officers and loyalist gunmen who killed six Catholics 22 years ago, a report by NI’s Police Ombudsman has said.

It said there was no evidence police had prior knowledge of the Ulster Volunteer Force attack in Loughinisland, County Down, in 1994.But it confirmed claims by the victims’ families that there was collusion.It was also highly critical of the initial investigation, listing «catastrophic failings» by the police.

Loughinisland Massacre

The report said police knew the names of suspects within 24 hours of the attacks, but delayed making arrests. It also said that one of the suspects was an RUC informant. The murdered men were watching the World Cup match between Ireland and Italy when loyalist gunmen burst into the Heights Bar in Loughinisland and opened fire. Five others were wounded.

The men who died were Adrian Rogan, 34, Malcolm Jenkinson, 53, Barney Green, 87, Daniel McCreanor 59, Patrick O’Hare, 35, and Eamon Byrne, 39.

The Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, said: «I have no hesitation in saying collusion was a significant feature of the Loughinisland murders.» He said police informers were involved in the attack in Loughinisland, and that opportunities to gather evidence were missed.

The solicitor for the families, Niall Murphy, called on John Major, who was prime minister at the time of the killings, to apologise to the families. The report also said police were aware that a «small but ruthless» Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gang had been operating in south Down and had been involved in previous murders. It said that if they had been properly investigated that gang could have been brought to justice and may not have been involved in the Loughinisland attack.

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A Belgian minister has voiced concern that as many as 2,500 Belgian ex-Nazis are receiving German pensions.

Belgian survivors of Nazi persecution appealed to the government to stop the payments, and Pensions Minister Daniel Bacquelaine «shares their indignation», his spokeswoman told the BBC.

But Germany manages the payments and «we have no official figures» for the recipients, Geraldine Lamoureux added.

After the 1945 liberation, 57,000 Belgian collaborators were convicted. Belgians were recruited into the German SS and Wehrmacht, and collaborators also helped the Nazis to send Jews and resistance fighters to concentration camps.

The petition to stop the German pension payments was the initiative of the Memorial Group — Belgians who survived the Nazi camps and who want modern Belgium to remember the wartime occupation. The group’s president, Pieter Paul Baeten, quoted by Belgian broadcaster RTBF, said: «It’s sad. Belgium can’t get hold of the information [on pension recipients], or doesn’t want to. «But I don’t understand how, in today’s Europe, Belgium and Germany can’t manage to exchange this information.»

It is not clear if those receiving the pensions are all living in Belgium.

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Two suicide attacks claimed by so-called Islamic State (IS) have killed at least 30 people in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say.

The first attack targeted a commercial area in the mainly Shia district of Jadidah, to the east, leaving 19 dead. A second bomb hit an army checkpoint in Taji, north of the capital, killing 11 people, including soldiers.

The Sunni jihadist group has frequently attacked security targets and Shia Muslims, whom it considers apostates. The group has intensified its attacks in Baghdad as the Iraqi army continues a major offensive to try to drive it from the IS stronghold of Falluja, 60km (37 miles) west of the capital.

More than 80 people were injured in the attacks, which happened at about 09:00 (06:00 GMT).

What Is Islamic State?

IS still controls large swathes of territory in the country’s north and west, including Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
The group is also under pressure in neighbouring Syria, where it has been targeted by government forces and US-backed rebels.

Deadly IS Attacks

17 May 2016: Four bomb blasts kill 69 people in Baghdad; three of the targets were Shia areas
11 May 2016: Car bombs in Baghdad kill 93 people, including 64 in market in Shia district of Sadr City
1 May 2016: Two car bombs kill at least 33 people in southern city of Samawa
26 March 2016: Suicide attack targets football match in central city of Iskandariya, killing at least 32
6 March 2016: Fuel tanker blown up at checkpoint near central city of Hilla, killing 47
28 February 2016: Twin suicide bomb attacks hit market in Sadr City, killing 70