An international counter-terrorism operation coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL, has identified 126 suspected foreign terrorist fighters using artificial intelligence-assisted analysis of online jihadist content.
Nigeria was among 11 countries that participated in Operation Shams II, a five-day operation held in Tunis, Tunisia, from June 1 to 5, 2026. The operation brought together 28 specialised law enforcement officers and experts to disrupt terrorist networks and their financing in the digital space.
According to INTERPOL, officers extracted 108,076 facial images from visual content published online by jihadist groups during the operation. Artificial intelligence tools and specially developed scripts were subsequently used to assist investigators in collecting, sorting and analysing the material.
The technology helped investigators remove duplicate images and assess image quality, reducing the original dataset to 6,362 unique, high-quality facial images suitable for processing through INTERPOL’s facial recognition system.
INTERPOL said the AI-generated results were not treated as conclusive on their own. Trained officers and analysts reviewed and verified the results in accordance with the organisation’s rules governing the processing of data.
Following the analysis, 126 foreign terrorist fighters were identified from the images processed during the operation.
The international police organisation said the matches would strengthen existing intelligence on the suspects, including information relating to their potential locations and social networks.
The information is now being incorporated into INTERPOL databases to assist law enforcement agencies in detecting, tracking and disrupting the movement of suspected terrorists across international borders.
The operation also generated investigative leads that are already supporting judicial proceedings in participating countries. INTERPOL said one such case involves two suspected foreign terrorist fighters who are currently in detention.
However, the investigation is not considered complete. The organisation said thousands of additional images remain to be processed and could produce further investigative leads.
Nigeria’s participation in the operation places the country within a wider international effort to use technology and intelligence-sharing mechanisms to combat terrorism and transnational criminal networks.
Beyond facial recognition, Operation Shams II also focused on terrorist financing. INTERPOL said investigators deployed cryptocurrency-tracing tools to follow suspected illicit financial flows.
The financial investigation resulted in three urgent requests to a virtual asset service provider for customer information, with the objective of helping investigators disrupt suspected channels through which terrorist activities may be financed.
The operation also examined the potential role of online gaming platforms in youth radicalisation. Participating countries held discussions with representatives of the online gaming industry to explore ways of strengthening information sharing and addressing risks associated with radicalisation in digital environments.
INTERPOL Director of Counter-Terrorism, María Carmen Muñoz González, said the operation demonstrated the potential of combining international police cooperation with responsible AI-assisted analytical capabilities.
She said the operational model could provide a foundation for future international law enforcement operations targeting criminal networks.
Operation Shams II was conducted under the CT TECH+ Project, funded by the European Union’s Foreign Policy Instruments and supported by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
The participating countries were Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
The operation represents a growing use of artificial intelligence in international law enforcement, particularly in processing large volumes of digital material that would be difficult to analyse manually. INTERPOL, however, said human officers remained responsible for reviewing and verifying AI-generated results before they were incorporated into its investigative processes.
