In wake of the recent terror attacks in San Bernardino, California and Paris, President Barack Obama addressed the growing threat of the Islamic State -- commonly known ISIS or ISIL -- during a rare trip to the Pentagon on Monday.

In his address, the president assured Americans that the U.S. and our coalition allies are making progress in the global effort to destroy the notorious terror group.

The president also outlined the national strategy against ISIS on four fronts: "Hunting down and taking out these terrorists; training and equipping Iraqi and Syrian forces to fight ISIL on the ground; stopping ISIL operations by disrupting the recruiting, financing and propaganda; and finally, persistent diplomacy to end the Syrian Civil War so everyone can focus on destroying ISIL," he said during the start of his speech in the Pentagon briefing room.

Despite growing alarm about ISIS attacks overseas and their influence to radicalize homegrown extremist in the states, Obama said the U.S. is "hitting ISIL harder than ever" with increased air strikes. So far, about 9,000 bombs have been dropped as of today. The president also revealed that ISIS has lost over 40 percent of its territory in Iraq.

"We are also taking out ISIL leaders, commanders and killers one by one," he said.

The president acknowledged that this "continues to be a difficult fight" as ISIL hides behind innocent men, women and children as human shields.

"Just as the U.S. is doing more in the fight," along with our European allies, "so must others," said Obama. That's why he plans to contribute more fighters to the fight.

The president ended his speech by giving special thanks to the American armed forces for keeping the U.S. safe. He added that Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter would depart soon after the press briefing for the Middle East and Secretary of State John Kerry would continue peace negotiations in Vienna.

Before making the Pentagon statement, the president spoke with Secretary Carter and his national security advisers about the fight against ISIS.

In addition to the speech, Obama plans to learn more about the U.S. effort to track and combat terrorism during his upcoming visit to the National Counterterrorism Center later this week, reports ABC News.

Watch the speech below.