France, Sept. 29 -- Broadcasting from Bamako and available through Canal+, the channel is part of a wider media network being developed by the Alliance of Sahel States - or AES - as its members deepen ties with Russia and distance themselves from France and other Western partners.

"We had to strike back... to ensure that these platforms could spread our own narrative," Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said this month.

Tafouk TV, whose name means "Sun" in Tamasheq, the language spoken by many Tuareg communities across the Sahel, began official programming on 16 September.

Its presentation draws heavily on regional imagery. The opening theme is inspired by the music of traditional Dozo hunters, while the logo of its Communication I...