Mohammed Roozi dies in a firefight that Kevin Rudd and military chiefs say is the result of months of intelligence work

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

The Afghan soldier who shot and wounded three Australian soldiers and two Afghan soldiers in 2011 while serving alongside them has been killed.

Mohammed Roozi, a former member of the Afghan national army, was shot late on Tuesday evening in Takhar province, Afghanistan, in a combined cordon and search operation led by Afghan forces and supported by members of the Australian army and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Kevin Rudd announced the operation during a visit to Robertson barracks in Darwin on Thursday morning.

"This combined operation involved months of focused intelligence and professional work by the Australian Defence Force in concert with the International Security Assistance Force," he said.

"Once again I commend the absolute professionalism of the Australian Defence Force in the field."

The ADF chief, General David Hurley, said Roozi had been shot and killed after he threw a grenade at the approaching combined forces.

One Afghan soldier had been "slightly" injured by Roozi's grenade, the ADF said.

Roozi had remained at large since he opened fire on fellow soldiers at Nasir patrol base in Oruzgan province in November 2011, using an automatic weapon and a grenade launcher. At the time he was a member of the Afghan national army, being mentored by Australian troops. His attack seriously wounded three Australian soldiers and injured two Afghans.

After fleeing the Nasir base in an Afghan army vehicle, Roozi appeared in an online video, saying he had joined the Taliban and boasting that he had killed 12 soldiers. His claims and the video were dismissed as propaganda by the then prime minister, Julia Gillard, and the Australian military.

"I had one mission on my mind – to kill foreigners and teach them a lesson. We are Muslims. We cannot accept foreigners," Fairfax cited Roozi as saying in the 47-minute video.

Roozi's death is the result of several months of intelligence work, the ADF said.

"We never gave up searching for Roozi," General Hurley said. "Australian forces, in concert with ISAF, narrowed down his location and then worked with the ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] and ISAF elements responsible for the area to plan and conduct a focused mission.

"The success of the mission is testament to the strong partnership between ISAF forces and their ANSF counterparts."