Police seized documents and computers from a house in the inner-western suburb of Glebe and from a housing commission unit in the western Sydney suburb of Riverwood.

Another neighbour said he heard the police telling the man they had seized his computer, passport and gold. “I definitely heard them say gold,” he said.

A note in Arabic pinned to the door said: “In the name of Allah we entered and in the name of Allah we left and on our Lord we relied.”

COUNTER-TERRORIST police raided two homes in Sydney early yesterday, with more than 100 officers involved in the operation.

Police seized documents and computers from a house in the inner-western suburb of Glebe and from a housing commission unit in the western Sydney suburb of Riverwood.

The operation began shortly after 2am and lasted several hours. The Australian Federal Police refused for security reasons to explain the purpose of the raids.

A spokesman for NSW Police said the raids were conducted by a joint counter-terrorism team called Strikeforce Tantallan.

Intelligence sources described the operation as a pre-emptive strike that was not related to any terror threat in Australia.

It is believed the subjects of the raid were a Turkish national and a Lebanese national. The men were believed to have been planning to travel to Turkey.

Sources said the raids were related to a terrorist threat overseas and any immediate arrest in Australia was unlikely.

Both homes had been under surveillance for several months.

A neighbour at the housing commission unit in Riverwood said the man, who lived with his mother, was a traditional Muslim who was quiet, friendly and respectful.

Another neighbour said he heard the police telling the man they had seized his computer, passport and gold. “I definitely heard them say gold,” he said.

No one answered the door at the unit yesterday afternoon.

A note in Arabic pinned to the door said: “In the name of Allah we entered and in the name of Allah we left and on our Lord we relied.”