Kabul in blackout as government struggles to fix power lines

Militants and bad weather in northern Afghanistan have hampered efforts to repair power lines that were destroyed last week, cutting electricity in the capital, Kabul, to about six hours a day, officials said on Monday. Insurgents last week destroyed an electricity pylon in the Dand Shahabuddin district of Baghlan province that brought power from Uzbekistan to meet almost half of Kabul's 600 megawatt daily requirement. Mirwais Alami, chief commercial officer at Afghanistan's national power compa