Gen Mohammad Daud Daud is one of at least seven people killed in the suicide bomb attack, police say.
Western and Afghan troops are among "a significant number of casualties", a Nato spokesman said.
Gen Daud was former military commander of the Northern Alliance, the Afghan forces who fought the Taliban.
Afghanistan has seen a series of attacks in recent months by militants on police and military targets.
The latest attack will be seen as significant because it has struck an area of the country's north which has been seen as relatively secure.
The Taliban have recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks against security forces across the country.
The latest attack occurred at the compound of Takhar provincial governor Abdul Jabar Taqwa, in Taloqan, while officials were having a meeting, a police spokesman said.
Seven people were killed in the explosion, including three German troops, a spokesman for the governor's office told AFP news agency, but this has not been confirmed.
German troops are based in neighbouring Kunduz province, and have oversight of Takhar.
Shah Jahan Nuri, the provincial police chief, was among the victims, and the governor was injured, the spokesman added.
The Taliban has claimed it carried out the attack.
The top commander of foreign troops in north Afghanistan was in the compound at the time but survived the explosion, a Nato spokesman said.
"We are aware of reports there has been an attack at the governor's palace in Taloqan, Takhar province," said Major Tim James, spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Kabul.
"Initial reports indicate there have been a number of Isaf and ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) casualties."
General Daud was a former deputy interior minister for narcotics.
He had also served as the bodyguard to Ahmad Shah Massoud, who commanded the Northern Alliance.link
BBC
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