United States President Barack Obama on Monday said that the country’s military and its allies are hitting the Islamic State militant group “harder than ever”. In his second address to the nation following the California shootings on December 2, Obama reiterated the US’s determination to destroy the militant group and vowed to win back territory in the Middle East.

Condemning IS leaders as thugs, thieves and killers, Obama confirmed the death of Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, in a US airstrike. He warned other IS leaders, saying, “You are next.” America’s strategy of hunting down leaders, training forces and stopping the group’s financing and propaganda is moving forward “with a great sense of urgency”, he said.

Obama said IS has lost about 40% of the area it once controlled in Iraq, and that the militant group has been pushed back from much of the territory it held in Syria near the Turkey border. He added that the US-led coalition dropped more bombs on IS targets in November than in any month since the campaign started.

The Republican Party dismissed Obama’s statement, with House majority leader Kevin McCarthy saying, “The American people are smart enough to know when something is working or not, and it’s obvious that the president’s current strategy isn’t working.” According to an Associated Press-Gfk poll, seven in 10 Americans rate the risk of another attack in the US as at least somewhat high, up from five in 10 in January.