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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him about the operation Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who grew up in the area, stated he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until dawn.

He reported that evening, local residents started looking the elevated terrain which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Residents living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - the photographer's images reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of it all impacted me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at stopping a gang known as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

At first, local officials stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to the poor, has estimated the final tally of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

Based on official reports, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of people killed in the security action has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".

During a press briefing the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse