15 feared dead in Peshawar explosion

PESHAWAR: At least 15 persons are feared dead in a huge explosion that rocked Pakistan's main northwest city of Peshawar.

A witness saw a huge white plume of smoke rising from a downtown area.

The explosion coincides with a trip to Pakistan by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was in the capital Islamabad some three hours drive away.

Islamist militants have struck numerous times in Pakistan this month, killing more than 200 people in apparent retaliation for an army offensive in one of their northwest strongholds along the Afghan border.