Rocket hits Afghan mosque near NATO base, 3 dead

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A rocket fired from across the Pakistan border into Afghanistan hit a mosque near a NATO base Friday, killing three civilians and wounding four, an Afghan provincial police chief said.

Abdul Qayum Batizoi, police chief in Khost province, said four to five rockets had been fired over the border and one had struck the mosque near a NATO base occupied by American troops.

The other rockets landed in uninhabited areas.

A NATO spokesman confirmed there had been an incident in the province near the base but had no further details.

Khost in southeast Afghanistan is separated from the rest of the country by mountains and has seen an upsurge in violence by militants based across the border in Pakistan.

Earlier this week, suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the provincial capital Khost City, seizing buildings before being overpowered during gunbattles that lasted for several hours. It was one of the most brazen militant attacks in Afghanistan in several months.

(Reporting by Kamal Sadat; writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Jon Boyle)