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The photographer

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of a massive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had evidence of blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the operation was under way.

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

But Itan, who was raised in the community, reported he managed to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the hillside that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos display the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation shook me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a gang known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of casualties to be 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, gold, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

But the number of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

At a news conference the next day, the official defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He further explained that the events had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the counterattack they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor further reported that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show a person stripping military attire {off a corpse