Mr Obama paid a rare visit to CIA headquarters in Virginia to discuss progress of Operation Inherent Resolve, the 20-month-old US-led campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
“ISIL is on the defensive, and we are on the offensive," Mr Obama said. “We have momentum, and we intend to keep that momentum."
The US president pointed to recent air strikes that killed three senior leaders and a report this week showing the group’s ranks are at their lowest level since 2014.
“In the days and weeks ahead we intend to take out more. Every day, ISIL leaders wake up and understand it could be their last," Mr Obama said.
“Their ranks of fighters are estimated to be at the lowest levels in two years and more and more are realizing that their cause is lost," he added.
Obama stressed the importance of ending the five-year civil war in Syria as key to facilitating a lasting defeat of the group.
“So we continue to work for a diplomatic end to this awful conflict," he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Baghdad-based spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said the US-led coalition campaign had successfully entered the second “phase" of operations.
Source: The National
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