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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how residents brought back mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer stated. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images reveal the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of it all impacted me deeply: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to expand its territory across the region.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Based on correspondent Rafael Soares, who has long reported on crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles guns, gold, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the official justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He added that the events had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the casualties and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse