In South Africa, a video has surfaced showing more than a hundred dead bodies in a disused gold mine where hundreds of illegal miners have been trapped for more than six months. France starts 2025 with a further drawdown of its military presence in its former African colonies and fresh tensions were ignited with controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron. One of Africa’s top security research organizations says terrorist groups on the continent are recruiting children as young as 11 and training them as extremist fighters.