…Nigeria, 10 other countries join first-of-its-kind Operation Shams II
The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has identified 126 foreign terrorist fighters from visual content published by jihadist groups using artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition technology.
Interpol said the operation, codenamed “Operation Shams II”, was the first of its kind and involved 28 specialised officers and experts from 11 countries, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
In a statement published on its website on Friday, the organisation said officers extracted 108,076 facial images from visual content released by jihadist groups during the operation.
The images were subsequently narrowed down to 6,362 unique facial images for processing through Interpol’s facial recognition system.
Additional images were also obtained from officers at Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Baghdad, Iraq.
Interpol said programmed AI agents and advanced AI-generated scripts were used to automate parts of the data collection and investigative processes, including deduplication and quality checks.
According to the organisation, 126 foreign terrorist fighters were identified from the processed images.
“These matches will enrich existing intelligence on suspects, including potential locations and social networks,” Interpol said.
“The data is now being integrated into INTERPOL’s databases, reinforcing global efforts to detect, track and disrupt terrorist movements worldwide.”
The organisation said investigative leads generated during the operation were already being used to support judicial procedures in participating countries, including a case involving two suspected foreign terrorist fighters who are currently detained.
“With thousands more images yet to be processed, further comparisons are ongoing and may identify additional leads,” it said.
Interpol stressed that AI-generated results were subjected to review and verification by trained officers and analysts.
The organisation also said it deployed “cutting edge” cryptocurrency tools during the operation to trace illicit funding, adding that three requests had been sent to a virtual asset service provider for the disclosure of customer data.
Beyond the investigation, participating countries met representatives of the online gaming industry to address youth radicalisation in online environments.
Interpol said the engagement strengthened cross-sector cooperation and identified opportunities to improve information sharing in the fight against terrorism and extremist activities online.
