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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. The total contained those of police officers.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer stated that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

"Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Community members living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of what occurred affected me profoundly: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the region declared that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization called Red Command from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of casualties to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has been able to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, the political leader, labeled Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

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

He further explained that the circumstances worsened because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the casualties presented by community members in the area had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he said that some of them had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and displayed evidence appearing to show a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse