The traitorous Afghan soldier who gunned down three Australian army personnel he whose side he was meant to be on in 2012 will soon walk free as part of a prisoner swap deal.

Afghan National Army sergeant Hekmatullah has been locked up for seven years after murdering Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate.

The unprovoked attack happened when the trio were playing cards with the then 19-year-old at Patrol Base Wahab, in the Baluchi Valley region of Oruzgan Province.

Afghan National Army sergeant Hekmatullah (pictured) is set to walk free from prison after seven years

The Australian soldiers were playing cards at Patrol Base Wahab (seen in this ABC re-enactment) when they came under attack by Afghan National Army soldier Sergeant Hekmatullah

The rogue soldier opened fire on the Australian soldiers with his M-16 rifle and successfully escaped the base for Pakistan (re-enactment)

Families of the victims were advised by the Department of Defence on Friday that the turncoat was likely to be among 5,000 prisoners who will soon be released as part of peace negotiations between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.

Originally Hekmatullah was among one of 400 'extreme cases' who were being considered by Afghanistan's Tribal Council, the Loya Jirga, for ongoing imprisonment after the peace deal.

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But after a meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said: 'Today, I will sign the release order of these 400 prisoners.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken out about the US-brokered prisoner swap.

'It is a matter that I have written to the President about it. It is a matter of keen interest to Australia and we have reminded them of that,' Mr Morrison said.

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