KABUL -- Six NATO troops were killed in a helicopter crash and two roadside bombs in southern

Afghanistan

on Monday, military officials said.

The fatalities included three Australian special operations soldiers and one American service member who were aboard the helicopter, officials said.

Two troops, including one American, were killed in separate roadside bombings, officials said. The nationality of the second service member killed in the roadside bombings was not immediately disclosed.

NATO officials said in a statement that there was no evidence of "enemy involvement" in the helicopter crash.

Earlier this month, four American airmen were killed when insurgents shot down a medevac helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade in southern Afghanistan.

Monday's crash marked the deadliest incident for Australian troops in the nearly nine-year war. The country, which has roughly 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, has lost 16 service members, including two killed in a roadside bombing earlier this month. Seven Australian soldiers were wounded in Monday's crash, the Australian officials said.

At least 59 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan this month, making it the deadliest month for the U.S.-led coalition this year.

"The families of these soldiers can be extremely proud of their loved ones," Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of Australia's Defense Force, said in a statement. "These three soldiers were very experienced. Time after time they have taken the fight to the enemy with courage and determination I have nothing but admiration for these very brave and committed Australians. They were some of our finest."

Australian Defense Minister John Faulkner said 15 troops, including 10 Australians, were aboard the helicopter when it crashed in northern Kandahar province. He said some among the survivors sustained serious wounds.

"This is a tragic day for Australia and the Australian Defense Force, and an absolutely devastating day for the families and friends of these brave young men," Faulkner said in a statement.

The surge in NATO casualties comes as the U.S. military is deploying an additional 30,000 troops to insurgent strongholds throughout the country.

American commanders say the Taliban has stepped up attacks to hinder NATO efforts to boost the Afghan government's authority in insurgent-controlled areas.

The United States is committed to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July 2011. Military leaders and U.S. diplomats are studying a successful effort by villagers in one remote part of the country to push out Taliban rulers, in hopes of finding strategies to empower other Afghan communities to follow suit.

A United Nations spokesman on Monday disputed an Associated Press report that the organization is relocating 300 foreign staff members from Afghanistan to Kuwait due to security concerns.

The spokesman said a few administrative and support employees will be moved to Kuwait to make room for critical staff that must be based in Kabul. The U.N. said its foreign staffing level in Afghanistan -- roughly 1,200 -- will remain unchanged.

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