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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that he initially learned about the operation in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the security measures were occurring.

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

But Itan, who grew up in the community, reported he succeeded to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He reported during the night, local residents started looking the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me a lot: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, sobbing, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The official of the region stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to preventing an illegal organization called Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to expand its territory across the region.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and becoming "business partners".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, fuel, alcohol smoking products.

Based on official reports, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and described the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "appalled".

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

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

He continued that the situation had escalated as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

In a post on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse