US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a press statement Thursday that the militant Islamic group ISIL/Da’esh has and is continuing to commit genocide against Christians—including Armenians—, Yezidis, and Shiite Muslims in Syria and Iraq.

“We know that in areas under its control, Da’esh has made a systematic effort to destroy the cultural heritage of ancient communities—destroying Armenian, Syrian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches; blowing up monasteries and the tombs of prophets; desecrating cemeteries,” said Kerry, who called the militant group “genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideology, and by actions.”

“The fact is that Da’esh kills Christians because they are Christians; Yezidis because they are Yezidis; Shia because they are Shia,” said the US Secretary of State, stating that the group’s entire worldview “is based on eliminating those who do not subscribe to its perverse ideology.”

Kerry’s statement marks the first time that the US has used the term “genocide” to describe an ongoing conflict since Darfur in 2004.