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Bruno Itan

A photographer who observed the aftermath of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how residents came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who grew up in the community, reported he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence show the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of the situation impacted me a lot: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at preventing an illegal organization called Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of casualties as 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio for years, the gang "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, gold, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

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

During a press briefing the next day, the official justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the circumstances intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader also said that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

In a post on social media, he said that particular individuals had been taken of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse