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The photographer

A reporter who documented the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents brought back mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The photographer stated that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness made his way to a local medical facility, where the victims were coming in.

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night.

He explained during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing since the police raid.

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

"The violence of it all shook me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

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

The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the total number of casualties at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He further explained that the events worsened because the suspects had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader further reported that the bodies shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were taken away from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse