Washington (CNN) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday acknowledged that there are "places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago," but sought to downplay the risk posed by the terrorist organization in the wake of a report warning of its resurgence in Syria.

"What we've always said is the caliphate's been gone and there's always risks that there'll be a resurgence, not just from ISIS," Pompeo said on "CBS This Morning."

"It's complicated," Pompeo said when asked if ISIS is gaining strength.

"There's certainly places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago. But the caliphate is gone and their capacity to conduct external attacks has been made much more difficult," he added. "We've taken down significant risk -- not all of it, but a significant amount."

Pompeo's continued de-emphasis of the threat capacity posed by ISIS comes despite the findings of a recent Pentagon inspector general report -- that "despite losing its territorial 'caliphate,' the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) solidified its insurgent capabilities in Iraq and was re-surging in Syria."

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