Five NATO troops, including three Americans, were killed on Friday by resistance fighters in Afghanistan, raising to 34 the number of United States occupation soldiers killed so far this month in the country.

NATO said Friday that two Americans died in an insurgent attack and another died in a roadside bomb explosion, but did not provide any further details. The U.S. command confirmed their nationalities but did not specify where they died. In London, the British Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was killed by in an explosion in Helmand province and NATO said a fifth soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan, but did not release his nationality.

June is shaping up to be one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in the nearly 9-year-old occupation of Afghanistan, as freedom fighters have stepped up attacks in response to a NATO push into rebel strongholds in the country's south.