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Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the results of an extensive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has described how community members came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. Among them were security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the police action was under way.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued through the night.

He described that evening, community members began to search the hillside that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the state announced that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang called Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, local officials stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the gang is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs nationally, together with First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Per reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and acting as "business partners".

The gang concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the official justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He added that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The state leader also said that the casualties shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation to security forces".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the casualties and presented video seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse