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The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

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

Bruno Itan explained that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the people there.

"The harsh reality of what occurred shook me deeply: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at preventing an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, state authorities stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of casualties to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on correspondent a specialist, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, the official justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He continued that the events had escalated as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse