A Taliban commander has claimed responsibility for the attack, and said the death toll was higher than the numbers given by official sources.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the attack a "perfidious murder" aimed at preventing the process of reconstruction in Aghanistan.
Germany has some 3,200 soldiers operating in northern Afghanistan, which has seen relatively few attacks compared to southern Afghanistan.
Separately, in Kapisa Province northeast of Kabul, militants were reported to have attacked U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces late on May 18.
A coalition spokesman, Chris Belcher, said air strikes were called in and that "several dozen" militants were believed killed.
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