(CNN) The top US general overseeing military operations in the Middle East warned Thursday that despite the terror group's territorial losses the fight against ISIS is "far from over," cautioning that the remnants of the group are positioning themselves for a potential resurgence.

"Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment but the fight against ISIS and violent extremism is far from over," Gen. Joseph Votel the commander of US Central Command told the House Armed Services Committee.

Votel acknowledged that the terror group's territory had shrunk from some 34,000 square miles at the height of its power to an area that is currently less than a single square mile in the Syrian town of Baghouz.

But he cautioned that many ISIS fighters have left these last pockets and have dispersed across Syria and Iraq.

"We will need to maintain a vigilant offensive against this now widely dispersed and disaggregated organization that includes leaders, fighters, facilitators, resources and of course their toxic ideology," he said.

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