The German Defense Ministry said militants attacked a German patrol southwest of the city of Kunduz, killing three soldiers and wounding eight others, four seriously.

The attack took place in Chardarah, one of six districts that make up Kunduz province, said the spokesperson at the German operational headquarters in Potsdam near Berlin.

The three soldiers who died were shot by the rebels. The attacks began after a mine went off under a German armored vehicle.

Around 200 Taliban attackers were reported to have been involved in the battle with German and Afghan police forces.

Gun battle lasted hours

Local Afghan government chief Abdul Wahid Omar Khil said German troops and Afghan police exchanged fire with their attackers for about an hour, with fighting resuming three hours later.

Omar Khil said one Taliban fighter was killed and another wounded, but that the Germans and the Afghan police were unable to use major firepower because the Taliban were firing from inside and on top of civilian homes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at what she called "a despicable and underhanded attack on our soldiers in Afghanistan."

German Development Aid Minister Dirk Niebel, who is currently in Afghanistan visiting German troops, called the attack "shameful."

Since joining the NATO-led ISAF mission in 2002, a total of 39 German soldiers have died in Afghanistan, 24 of those in combat.

At present, over 4,300 Bundeswehr troops are stationed in the country.

td/glb/AP/dpa

Editor: Susan Houlton