INTERPOL Identifies 126 Terror Suspects Using AI Tools

INTERPOL announced that an international counter-terrorism operation, “Operation Shams II,” identified 126 suspected foreign terrorist fighters from over 108,000 facial images extracted from online jihadist content. The operation took place in Tunis, Tunisia, with active participation from Nigeria and 27 other countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan.

Law enforcement officers extracted 108,076 facial images during the five-day operation, which were processed using AI technology to reduce the dataset to 6,362 unique images. These were then analyzed through INTERPOL’s facial recognition system.

The results were verified by trained officers in compliance with data processing rules. The operation also utilized cryptocurrency-tracing tools to investigate terrorist financing, leading to urgent requests for customer data from a Virtual Asset Service Provider.

Investigative leads generated are supporting judicial proceedings in participating countries, including a case involving two detained foreign terrorist fighters.