AMMAN: A top Syrian government official says electricity has been restored in most parts of the Syrian capital and that power will gradually reach southern areas.

A power outage plunged Damascus into darkness late Saturday. Much of southern Syria, mainly the provinces of Daraa and Sweida, which abut the Jordanian border, also was affected by the outage.

Electricity Minister Imad Khamis told the state news agency, SANA, Sunday that technical teams were working around the clock to restore power in the south. He said electricity was back on in most parts of Damascus.

He blamed the blackout on an unspecified fault in high-tension lines.

The Syrian capital's 2.5 million residents have grown used to frequent power cuts as the country's conflict has damaged infrastructure and sapped government revenue.