INTERPOL has completed an operation that used artificial intelligence to help identify people suspected of links to terrorism. The operation is called Shams II.
It ran from June 1 to June 5, 2026. The work took place in Tunis, Tunisia.
Officers and experts from 11 countries joined the effort. In total, 28 specialists took part in the five day operation.
During the operation, officers pulled 108,076 facial images from online content published by jihadist groups. This content was gathered from various digital platforms.
How AI Narrowed the Dataset
Programmed AI agents and AI generated scripts were used to automate parts of the data collection. These tools also helped deduplicate the images and check their quality.
This process narrowed the full set of images down to 6,362 unique, high quality facial photos. These were then ready for processing through INTERPOL's Facial Recognition System.
All AI generated results were reviewed by trained officers and analysts. This review followed INTERPOL's Rules on the Processing of Data.
Officers from INTERPOL's National Central Bureau in Baghdad, Iraq also contributed. They provided a large set of intelligence data tied to terrorism suspects.
This added hundreds more images for the team to extract and process during the operation.
Suspects Identified and Investigations
By the end of the operation, 126 Foreign Terrorist Fighters had been identified from the processed images. These matches are now being added to existing intelligence files.
The added information includes possible locations and social networks tied to the suspects. This data is being integrated into INTERPOL's wider databases.
Investigative leads from the operation are already being used in ongoing legal cases. One case involves two suspected Foreign Terrorist Fighters who are currently detained.
Thousands of additional images still need to be processed. Officials say more comparisons are ongoing and could lead to further identifications.
Operation Shams II also used cryptocurrency tracing tools to follow suspected terrorist financing. This led to three urgent requests sent to a Virtual Asset Service Provider asking for customer data.
The goal of these requests was to help disrupt financing flows linked to terrorist activity.
Participating countries also met with representatives from the online gaming industry during the operation. These meetings focused on addressing youth radicalization happening inside online spaces.
The discussions aimed to improve information sharing between law enforcement and gaming platforms.
María Carmen Muñoz González, INTERPOL's Director of Counter-Terrorism, commented on the results. She said the operation shows the value of combining international cooperation with AI assisted analysis.
She added that the operational model gives a foundation for future international law enforcement efforts. INTERPOL says the processing of the remaining images is still underway, with more suspect matches possible in the coming weeks.
