Security Council Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11 With Unanimous Warning on AI-Enabled Terrorism

The United Nations Security Council convened its 10,221st meeting on Sept. 11, 2026, to mark a quarter-century since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people from 90 countries — and to confront a threat landscape the architects of Resolution 1373 never imagined. After three expert briefings and statements from all 15 members, the Council adopted Presidential Statement S/PRST/2026/3 by consensus, its first presidential statement specifically addressing the exploitation of artificial intelligence, drones and digital finance by terrorist groups.

• Council unanimously adopts Presidential Statement S/PRST/2026/3, signaling new policy direction on technology-enabled terrorism
• Expert briefers warn AI-generated propaganda, drone weaponization and crypto financing are outpacing international defenses
• Liberia declares Africa "the epicenter of global terrorism," with the Sahel accounting for more than half of all global terrorism deaths and over 5 million displaced
• Pakistan reports more than 90,000 citizens killed by terrorism since 2001 and presses for new sanctions listings
• Denmark and China call for updating the 1267 sanctions list to reflect current terrorist leadership, not outdated designations
• GIFCT chief urges the Council to treat the private sector as a frontline counterterrorism partner, citing a network reaching more than 5 billion monthly active users

Three briefers opened the session with a blunt assessment: the terrorist threat has fragmented, decentralized and gone digital far faster than the international architecture built to fight it.