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Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the results of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how community members brought back mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the photographer described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

The photographer reported that he initially learned about the operation in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were coming in.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

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

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he remained until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, community members began to search the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos display the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation affected me a lot: the pain of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the total number of people killed to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, gold, fuel, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in Penha had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, vests, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse