As Mali last year hired Russian mercenaries, U.S. commanders overseeing annual counterterrorism exercises in West Africa advised coastal nations to rely on one another rather than non-Western powers to curb an expanding Islamic insurgency.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, Washington and its allies have opposed Russian influence in West Africa.

During drills this month in northern Ghana, trainers urged troops to share phone numbers with foreign counterparts operating over poorly marked borders, often just a few miles apart. Soldiers have also learned to use motorbikes like rebels for speed and maneuverability.

Overrun by Islamist groups and amid a row with former colonial power France, Mali’s military government hired private Russian military contractor Wagner Group, whose fighters are playing key roles in Ukraine, to combat the militants. Western nations and the UN worry that this has increased violence.

Mali, whose government seized control in a military takeover in 2021, has previously claimed that Russian forces are not mercenaries but trainers assisting local troops with Russian-origin equipment.

Colonel Robert Zyla from the U.S. Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF) told Reuters at training exercises in Ghana, “You have governments with so many problems that they start reaching out to other malign actors who are perhaps more exploitive of the resources in those countries.

“Contrast that with what we’re trying to bring, which are partnerships between neighbours and other democratic nations.”

During this month’s training exercises, soldiers patrolled arid scrubland dotted with skinny bushes. At the center of the strategy is engaging border communities and ensuring armies work together in a region where frontiers span hundreds of miles of sparsely populated desert.

“No one country can solve this by themselves,” Zyla said. “Moving forward it will be about educating countries in the region how to reach across borders and converse.”

For a decade, offensive operations have failed to quell an Islamic insurgency that has killed thousands and displaced millions. As military juntas expelled hundreds of French troops from Mali and Burkina Faso this year, security experts believe it might worsen.

Experts say the biggest obstacle is the lack of resources and large-scale international defense commitment in one of the world’s poorest regions.

Northern Ghana has more soldiers. However, Colonel Richard Kainyi Mensah, Ghana’s special operations brigade chief operations officer, claimed it lacks reconnaissance drones to monitor borders. “Logistics and equipment matter,” he remarked—limited resources.

What further resources the U.S. and Europe are ready to contribute is not apparent. After four U.S. soldiers died in Niger in 2017, the U.S. is wary. Moreover, as security deteriorates in Mali, the UK, Germany, and others are withdrawing soldiers from UN peacekeeping.

General Michael Langley, chief of U.S. Africa Command, told media this month that “stabilization and security” were its priorities in Africa. However, others think that not enough is being done.

“There’s a lot of hesitancy to deploy more than we need to,” said Aneliese Bernard, director of the U.S. risk advisory group Strategic Stabilization Advisors. The irony is that we’re practically bandaging a severed limb. Military and security experts stressed timing. Mali’s 2012 Islamist violence has spread. Armed gangs in coastal Benin and Togo threaten economic leaders in Ivory Coast and Ghana.