Lithuanian Police Anti-terrorist Operations Unit ARAS

The ARAS or Lithuanian Police Anti-terrorist Operations Unit ARAS (Lithuanian: Lietuvos policijos antiteroristinių operacijų rinktinė ARAS) is a separate specialized police unit established in 1991. At first, ARAS’s main purpose was to suppress organized crime and the bandit groups that were freely operating in Lithuania. 


In addition, they handled riot suppression, peace keeping, and escort. In December 2004 the unit was admitted into the international organization ATLAS, which consolidates special units fighting against terrorism from the European Union countries, as the Lithuanian representative.