US President Barack Obama asks top military commanders to ensure defeat of ISIS

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has asked his top military commanders to ensure destruction of ISIS, saying it was his "top priority" at a time when the terror group continues to lose ground in the Middle East.

"As we've seen from Turkey to Belgium, ISIL still has the ability to launch serious terrorist attacks. One of my main messages today is that destroying ISIL continues to be my top priority," Obama told his senior military commanders.

"So we should no longer tolerate the kinds of positioning that is enabled by them having headquarters in Raqqa ( Syria) and Mosul (Iraq). We've got to keep on putting the pressure on them," he said at a meeting in the White House yesterday.

Obama said the fight against ISIL (ISIS) is not just a military operation. That is an intelligence and diplomatic effort as well, he said.

"One of the things we'll talk about here is how we make sure that we coordinate our military activities with the efforts of our other branches of government," he said.

Acknowledging that this will continue to be a difficult fight, Obama exuded confidence that ISIS will lose.

"We will prevail," he told the top commanders.

"We continue to take on their leadership, their financial networks, their infrastructure," Obama said.

"We are going to squeeze them and we will defeat them."

Obama said his administration is investing in capabilities that the military needs to deter aggression and defend America's security and that of its allies.

This includes increases in US posture in Europe to reassure our NATO allies in light of particularly increased aggressive actions by Russia.

"It allows us to enhance our maritime cooperation in the Asia Pacific. It allows us to boost cybersecurity, which is going to be an increasing threat that has to be addressed. It allows us to invest in the future of our force, support our military families, and make sure that our technological edge is maintained relative to forces all around the world," he added.