FRANCE. – Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to identify 126 foreign fighters during an international counter-terrorism operation aimed at disrupting terror networks in the digital space.
Operation Shams II was coordinated by Interpol from one to five June in Tunis, Tunisia. A total of 28 specialist officers and experts from 11 countries participated. Law enforcement extracted 108 076 facial images from visual material published by jihadist groups. AI agents and AI-generated scripts were used to automate parts of the data collection and investigation process, including the removal of duplicates and quality control. The large dataset was subsequently reduced to 6 362 unique facial images of sufficient quality for processing by Interpol's facial recognition system.
Officers from Interpol's National Central Bureau in Baghdad, Iraq, also provided a large intelligence dataset on terror suspects. According to Interpol, 126 foreign fighters have been identified so far through the processed images. The matches can supplement existing intelligence on suspects, including possible locations and social networks. The investigative leads are already being used to support legal proceedings in participating countries. Thousands of images still need to be processed, which could lead to further identifications.
The operation also used cryptocurrency tools to trace possible illegal financing. This led to three urgent requests to a virtual asset provider to disclose client data. María Carmen Muñoz González, Interpol's director of counter-terrorism, says the operation demonstrates the value of international law enforcement cooperation combined with responsible AI-supported analysis.
Operation Shams II was carried out as part of the CT TECH+ project, which was funded by the European Union's Foreign Policy Instruments and supported by the United Nations Office on Counter-Terrorism.
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This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
