Australia treating IS kill threat as genuine

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Canberra was treating as genuine a call by the Islamic State group for Muslims to indiscriminately kill Australians, issued after anti-terrorism raids foiled an alleged abduction plot.

The militants on Monday released a statement urging the deaths of citizens of all countries taking part in the US-led coalition against the jihadists. Australia was mentioned, along with the United States, Canada and France. 

Bishop told national radio that Australia was clearly a target, just hours before the US and Arab allies unleashed bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles on IS targets in eastern Syria.

"Our agencies are treating this threat as genuine and it's quite apparent that ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) is prepared to take on anyone who doesn't share its views," she said.

"So we are a threat, not because of what we're prepared to do to combat ISIL but because of who we are.

"ISIL is killing Shia, Sunni, Kurds, Christians; they're killing aid workers, journalists," Bishop added from New York, where she is attending UN meetings.

"So no-one is safe in their presence. That's why we're so committed to containing and degrading and destroying ISIL as far as we can in cooperation with other countries."