BEIRUT — Syria warned the Obama administration Monday not to extend its air war against the Islamic State into Syria, as the militants celebrated another key victory over government forces in the north of the country.

The warning came a day after the group overran a major air base in north-central Syria, putting the Islamic State in full control of Raqqah province, where American photojournalist James Foley was held for much of his captivity and where his beheading last week is thought to have occurred.

Raqqah also was the site of a failed rescue attempt this summer in which Delta Force commandos sought to snatch Foley and other Americans held by the Islamic State from a prison east of Raqqah, said U.S. officials and witnesses in the area.

The capture of Tabqa airfield Sunday was the latest in a string of recent military successes for the extremist fighters, who have been consolidating their hold across northern Syria even as U.S. airstrikes launched earlier this month temper the group’s expansion in northern Iraq.

U.S. officials have not ruled out pressing the airstrikes into Syria, telling reporters last week that the United States would not be restricted by “geographic boundaries” when confronting the militants.

On Monday, the White House said President Obama has not decided whether to pursue military action in Syria.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the current situation is different from last year’s proposed attacks against the Syrian government that Obama canceled after congressional opposition. The administration has said that Obama has the constitutional authority to act to protect U.S. citizens such as those held hostage by the Islamic State in Syria.

On Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem signaled that Damascus would not tolerate unilateral U.S. strikes against the extremists even in areas of the country the government no longer controls.

Fighting terrorism, Moualem said, should be done in cooperation with the Syrian government, “not through transgression against countries’ sovereignty.”

The Syrian government has long sought to use the extremists’ expanding influence as a means to restore U.S. recognition for the discredited regime, promising to act as partners in the fight against terrorism in return for an end to American support for the more-moderate rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.

Moualem appeared to open the door to a joint effort to fight the extremists, but he said the Syrian government would have to be consulted first.

“Syria is ready to cooperate and coordinate on the regional and international level in the war on terror,” Moualem said. “But any effort to combat terrorism should be coordinated with the Syrian government.”

The loss of Tabqa puts an entire province beyond the government’s reach for the first time since the revolt against Assad turned violent three years ago.

Copy the Story Link