Lithuanian military observer deployed in Syria

The country's Ministry of National Defense confirmed to BNS on Tuesday that Major Andrius Smilga is already undergoing training but is not carrying out tasks directly related to the observer mission. UN military observers acting unarmed announced their decision on Saturday to suspend the mission due to escalating violence in Syria.

"After the mission is re-launched, he will observe the situation in a designated area, i.e., whether countries comply with the rules of use of international force, meet other international commitments," the ministry said in its response.

Smilga previously worked at the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of National Defense. It's not the first observer mission he is sent to. He was previously sent to an observer mission in Georgia, and NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan.

Currently 276 military observers are taking part in the UNSMIS mission, and up to 300 unarmed observers can be sent to Syria based on the UN mandate.

According to reports, over 14,000 people have already been killed in Syria since March 2011 when civil protests against President Bashar al Assad's regime broke out. Western countries have imposed strict sanctions against the Syrian regime, while Russia and China, having veto powers in the UN Security Council, have been fairly moderate. In an effort to avoid a large-scale civil war in Syria, a peace plan drafted by Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League peace envoy for Syria, is being implemented. But these attempts have so far been unsuccessful.