The head of the United Nations panel tasked in investigating human rights violations in Syria has called on U.N. member-states to stop supplying weapons to Syrian government and rebels.

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro stressed that both sides have been committing "horrendous violations" of human rights with no one held accountable.

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"This arms race must be stopped. We would like very much that the different Member States will interrupt their support in terms of weapons, of arms, for both sides," he told U.N. Radio.

Sergio, who heads the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said there is a pressing need to halt the weapon supplies on both sides in a bid to de-escalate the civil war that has killed over 170, 000 Syrians in almost four years.

He has already ruled out the possibility of a military solution to end the bloodshed and said only a serious negotiation could help stop the further killings.

But both sides have committed to carry out their offensives despite the U.N. call to return to negotiating table.

As this developed, fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) have released photos of captured soldiers being beheaded by the Islamist groups following a battle in a Syrian military base near the Raqqa City, BBC reported. The rebels have overrun the facility, it added.

The Syrian army, on the other hand, has vowed to confront the Islamist militants which they categorized as terrorist groups. Re-elected President Bashar al-Assad said his new seven-year term will be used to crack down rebels and promised to do everything to restore peace in the Arab country.

The government has consolidated their control over a corridor of territory from the capital Damascus up to the city of Homs, Hama and Latakia provinces, while rebels are in control of northern and eastern part of Syria.

Sergio has asked both sides to respect international law protecting human rights even in times of war.

He said the U.N. Commission continues its work of documenting data and collecting evidence in human rights violations in the country. 

TagsCivil war, Islamist militants