HIGHLIGHTS OF NIF ROLE IN THE GREATER HORN OF AFRICA

The Wars by Proxy
1993 would prove to be a decisive year in Sudan 's efforts to launch a regional offensive. The al-Bashir government came to wage war through proxies with Eritrea , Ethiopia and Uganda and militarily backed the largest Islamist faction in Somalia . Al Qaeda launched numerous operations in these neighboring states at times in apparent coordination with Sudan , and also set up very active and large operations in Kenya , Somalia , Tanzania and Uganda .
In the case of Uganda , Khartoum was seeking to prevent the use of its neighbor's territory as a base and arms conduit for the rebel SPLM/A. As for Eritrea and Ethiopia , the Sudanese government was seeking to export Islamist revolution. When the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara came to power in the early 1990's, they maintained cordial relations with Khartoum . Indeed, Khartoum had provided support for and harbored bases of the Ethiopian and Eritrean liberation movements that overthrew the Ethiopian dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam. However, by 1993 it was apparent that Khartoum was assuming a hostile stance with the result that both Ethiopia and Eritrea began to support Sudanese rebel groups including the SPLM/A, and later the northern-based NDA.
Islamist Khartoum also became alarmed that the U.S.-led United Nations intervention in Somalia in 1991 might shift the regional balance of power against Sudan and bring a large Islamic nation under Western influence. The United Nations entered Somalia to supply humanitarian relief to millions of Somalis facing the specter of starvation after the collapse of the central government. However, the mandate of the U.N. mission expanded to include nation-building until continued opposition by Somali military-political factions forced the U.N. to withdraw in 1995. Sudan and Al Qaeda were determined to undermine U.S. influence in the region, and Al Qaeda took center stage in the targeting of Kenya for hosting considerable U.S. diplomatic and intelligence assets that provided support to the SPLM/A.

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