Ghanaian authorities have joined an international counter-terrorism operation coordinated by INTERPOL that used artificial intelligence to uncover 126 suspected Foreign Terrorist Fighters.

The operation, known as Operation Shams II, held in Tunisia from June 1 to 5, 2026, brought together law enforcement officers and experts from 11 countries, including Ghana, to identify and track suspected terrorists using digital intelligence.

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The five-day operation involved 28 specialised officers and experts who worked to identify people linked to terrorist networks operating in the digital space.

According to an INTERPOL statement on September 18, 2026, the operation saw officers extract 108,076 facial images from visual content published online by jihadist groups.

It indicated that artificial intelligence tools were then used to help collect, sort and analyse the images.

The system removed duplicate images and checked their quality before narrowing them down to 6,362 unique, high-quality facial images.

These images were then processed through INTERPOL's Facial Recognition System.

INTERPOL said the results generated by the AI tools were reviewed and verified by trained officers and analysts before being used.

The operation also received a large intelligence dataset from INTERPOL's National Central Bureau in Baghdad, Iraq, which included information and images linked to terrorism suspects.

So far, 126 Foreign Terrorist Fighters have been identified from the images processed during the operation.

The matches are expected to help investigators gather more information about the suspects, including their possible locations and social networks.

INTERPOL said one of the cases involves two suspected Foreign Terrorist Fighters who are currently in detention.

However, the operation is not over, as thousands of additional images are still waiting to be processed and could lead to the identification of more suspects.

“Investigative leads identified during the operation are already being used to support judicial procedures in participating countries, including one case targeting two currently detained suspected Foreign Terrorist Fighters suspects,” the statement read.

INTERPOL indicated that beyond facial recognition, the operation also used cryptocurrency investigation tools to trace funds linked to suspected terrorist financing.

The exercise resulted in three urgent requests to a Virtual Asset Service Provider for customer information as investigators sought to disrupt possible terrorist financing networks.

INTERPOL's Director of Counter-Terrorism, María Carmen Muñoz González, said the operation showed how international cooperation and responsible use of AI could support efforts against terrorism.

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“The success of Operation Shams II demonstrates the value of combining international law enforcement cooperation with responsible AI-assisted analytical capabilities. The operational model provides a strong foundation for supporting future international law enforcement cooperation targeting criminal actors around the world,” she said.

Ghana was one of 11 countries that took part in Operation Shams II. The other participating countries were Côte d’Ivoire, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Qatar, Tajikistan, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.

MAG/VPO

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