US invites Aust to target IS in Syria

The US has formally invited Australia to extend operations of the air task group to include Islamic State targets in Syria, Tony Abbott says.

The US has invited Australia to extend air combat operations to hit IS in Syria, the PM says. (AAP)

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed Australia has received a formal request from the US to extend air combat operations to hit Islamic State targets in Syria.

But the government won't be rushed into any decision.

"I want to make it very clear that the consolidation of a terrorist state in eastern Syria and northern Iraq would be a catastrophe for the world," Mr Abbott told reporters in Perth on Friday.