Four German soldiers were killed and five wounded when they came under fire near Afghanistan's northern city of Baghlan today.
Insurgents apparently carried out a rocket attack on a group of soldiers, some of whom were in an an armoured car, close to Pol-i-Khomri camp, the German Defence Ministry said in a letter to members of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
The killings brought the number of German dead in Afghanistan to 43 since the Bundeswehr's deployment in 2002. Seven of the deaths came this month.
The deaths of three German soldiers in a gunbattle with rebels in early April prompted Merkel to attend her first funeral service for fallen troops.
Germany has the third biggest NATO contingent in Afghanistan, with a maximum strength of 5,350 troops.
Following US appeals to beef up Germany's presence in Afghanistan, German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg yesterday said heavier weapons would be dispatched, including two mounted howitzers.
Despite the latest attacks, Mr Guttenberg, who was visiting Afghanistan this week, said Germany still hoped to begin reducing its military presence in the country from next year.
Over the past six months, Germany has extended the duration of both the army's Afghanistan mandate and its troop count with significant bipartisan backing in parliament.
However, public hostility to the conflict has increased pressure on opposition politicians to withdraw their support. This week the opposition Social Democrats, who sent the first troops to Afghanistan, said the designation of the conflict as "war" meant that a new Afghan mandate was needed.
Reuters