In early June 2026, INTERPOL coordinated a groundbreaking counter‑terrorism initiative known as Operation Shams II, aimed at disrupting terrorist networks operating in the digital sphere. The operation took place in Tunis and brought together 28 specialized officers and experts from 11 countries.
Over five days, investigators focused on analysing vast amounts of online material published by jihadist groups, which are responsible for severe harm and human rights violations. Using advanced artificial intelligence tools, officers extracted an extraordinary 108,076 facial images from this content. AI agents and AI‑generated scripts helped automate much of the work, from data collection to deduplication and quality checks, ultimately reducing the dataset to 6,362 high‑quality, unique facial images suitable for processing through INTERPOL’s Facial Recognition System.
Despite the heavy use of automation, every AI‑generated output was reviewed by trained officers to ensure compliance with INTERPOL’s strict data‑processing rules. Additional intelligence came from INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in Baghdad, which contributed hundreds more images linked to terrorism suspects, further enriching the dataset.
Thanks to this combined effort, the operation has already identified 126 Foreign Terrorist Fighters from the processed images. These identifications are now feeding into INTERPOL’s databases, strengthening global efforts to track and disrupt terrorist movements and providing new insights into suspects’ possible locations and social networks. Some of the investigative leads are already being used in judicial proceedings, including a case involving two suspects currently in detention.
The operation also explored financial dimensions of terrorism. Investigators used cutting‑edge cryptocurrency‑tracking tools to trace illicit funding flows, which resulted in three urgent requests for customer data from a Virtual Asset Service Provider, aimed at disrupting potential financing channels.
Source: https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2026/Counter-terrorism-operation-leverages-artificial-intelligence-to-identify-126-terrorism-suspects