ELITE commandos sent to the Middle East to lead Australia’s part in the fight against terror fear they are leaving their families vulnerable to attack by extremists.

It is understood mysterious strangers have visited Defence Department homes in suburbs near the military barracks in Holsworthy and nearby Steele Barracks in Moorebank with vague or implausible excuses.

Soldiers believe radical ­Islamic splinter groups have been trying to identify potential targets with a high propaganda value. The word “stalking” has been used to describe it, one source said.

It followed extraordinary advice to crack troops from 2nd Commando Regiment at Holsworthy to ditch their uniforms in public, right down to their ­watches, to avoid becoming targets.

A media spokesman said the Chief of the ­Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, advised serving members on how to protect their personal safety on Facebook last Thursday.

In the message he advised ADF members to: “Exercise common sense and judgment when considering where and when to wear your uniform in public.”

Commandos stationed at Holsworthy, in southwest Sydney, are among the toughest fighting troops in the world. They are what soldiers call “shooters” or “gunslingers”, trained to the highest level.

They’re good. That’s why some have been already landed in the Middle East as part of Australia’s response to the threat of Islamic State terrorists there. And it is why they have become prime ­targets in the war of nerves suddenly being waged by a few rogue Islamists and on millions of other citizens.

media_camera Soldiers’ families live near the Holsworthy Army Barracks, where they train.

media_camera Elite Australian soldiers hold grave fears for the families they have left behind in Australia.

Many of the soldiers’ ­families live in houses dotted through the suburbs near the barracks. So do hundreds of other service people who work on those bases.

In the normal course of events, families safe at home worry about loved ones serving overseas. But there is nothing normal about the events that led to the huge anti-terror raids in Sydney and Brisbane, followed by the attempt to kill two police officers in Victoria on Tuesday.

The truth is, Australian soldiers in the Middle East have almost as much reason to worry about the safety of their families as the families have to worry about them after IS posted an online fatwa calling on followers to target not just Australian troops but also citizens.

Army sources said the anti-terrorist raids came after Middle Eastern men visited military homes using ­implausible excuses. Military sources working with police have linked some of them to violent groups involved in the Cronulla riots in 2005.

“Chatter” picked up by ­security services indicated Australian-based radicals have been urged to make an attack similar to the grisly slaying of British soldier Lee Rigby in London early last year. Rigby was run down with a car then hacked to death by two recent converts to Islam, since jailed for life.

It’s no surprise the security level at Holsworthy has been boosted from “Safe Base Bravo” to “Safe Base Charlie”. This means everyone who enters the base is treated as a potential threat. Every vehicle is searched for weapons or explosives.

media_camera Authorities took part in massive terror raids earlier this month, in suburbs including Marsfield.

It’s not the first time the renowned commandos have been targeted. In 2009, Holsworthy was the target of a plot by Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab. The plot was to infiltrate the base and open fire with automatic weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible before being killed or captured. The plan was thwarted and four men from Victoria were jailed.

The plot showed what a tempting target the army base makes. This is partly ­because it is “smack in the middle of the bad lands”, as one source described it.

media_camera Police patrols were stepped up at major sporting events. Picture: Nathan Dyer

After last week’s scare, no one is going to admit our elite soldiers have been forced to take a low profile. No one is going to admit it would be safer to house their families well away from places riddled with gangs and radicals. No one is going to say the unsayable unless, or until, something unspeakable happens.

Five days ago it almost did. A wild-eyed 18-year-old, ­apparently stirred to a frenzy by IS propaganda, badly wounded two policemen.

Despite denials by police, it seems all too possible the second knife and the flag Numan Haider carried were part of a mad plan to behead a victim in the name of jihad.

It’s easier and more politically comfortable to treat Haider as a kid who flipped out than to add fuel to the fire of Islamic machismo by ­elevating a deluded teen into some sort of martyr.

The sad fact is that young fools like Haider are easily manipulated by malevolent Mujahideen elders. And the fact his plan was crazy doesn’t mean it wasn’t a plan.