THE Afghan soldier who gunned down three Australian Diggers last year has gloated about his attack and told how his unit comrades fantasised about launching similar jihad operations.

Mohammed Roozi has appeared in a Taliban video, telling how he ambushed the ''heathen'' Australian troops with a machinegun and rocket launcher before joining Taliban and hiding with Kuchi nomads.

A manhunt has been under way for Roozi - then an Afghan National Army member serving alongside Australians - who vanished after firing on his Australian mentors on November 8, seriously injuring three of them and two Afghan soldiers at the remote Nasir patrol base in Oruzgan province. His escape and the video raise doubts about whether the shifting of most Australian troops into training roles would lower the risk of casualties.

The video, linked through a recognised Taliban website, provides a disturbing look inside the insurgency and the mindset of the Afghan troops serving with Australians. In one five-month period last year, Afghan soldiers shot 14 Australians, four of whom died.