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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. They included security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The photographer explained that residents first notified him about the operation early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he managed to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed through the night.

He explained during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the hillside that separates the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all impacted me a lot: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter a specialist, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "operational allies".

The gang concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that during the raid, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, the political leader, described organization participants 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 "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the official supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He further explained that the situation intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The governor also said that the bodies shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he said that some of them had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse