DURING nine days of fierce fighting in southern Afghanistan, Australian special forces killed more than 150 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, and suffered just six men wounded.

In the most intense battles since the Vietnam War, Diggers from the Special Forces Task Group used superior weapons and overwhelming airborne fire support from USAF AC-130E Hercules Spectre gunships.

Codenamed Operation Perth, the hardest fighting took place in July during search-and-destroy missions in the Chora district, about 40km northeast of the Australian base at Tarin Khowt, in southern Afghanistan.

Despite secrecy surrounding the 12-month special forces deployment, The Daily Telegraph can reveal previously classified details of the Diggers' campaign.

During the year-long operation the three rotations of the task group have sustained 11 casualties, including several men seriously wounded.

One commando had part of his jaw blown off, another was shot in the buttocks and an SAS specialist was hit in the abdomen. Amazingly, the round missed his vital organs.

In one action, six commandos, including the company sergeant major, who sustained leg injuries, were wounded by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade.

Several men are to be awarded gallantry medals.

The Daily Telegraph can also reveal that at the height of the battle, three AC-130 Spectre aircraft ran out of ammunition for the first time in any operation since the Viet Nam conflict.

Each AC-130E Spectre aircraft burned through 15,000 rounds of 7.62mm GE MiniGun ammunition, 8,000 rounds of M61 20mm Vulcan cannon ammunition, 256 rounds of L60 40mm Bofors cannon ammunition, 100 rounds of M102 105mm howitzer ammunition, and 1800 rounds of 25mm GAU-12 cannon ammunition.

"That was the first time for some of the crews that they have bled the magazines dry," a special forces source told The Daily Telegraph.

The task group includes a commando platoon of 50 men from the Sydney-based 4RAR and 40 SAS troopers from the unit's No.3 squadron. The 100 support soldiers include chemical weapons experts from the Incident Response Regiment.

The commandos and SAS troopers are angry that the task group will not be replaced when it leaves later this month.

"It's not right to pull out. We shouldn't just go there for a shoot 'em up and then come home," one soldier said.