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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the results of a massive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation in the city.

The photographer reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers created a barrier and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He explained during the night, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing after the operation.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the response of the people there.

"The brutality of what occurred shook me a lot: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a criminal group referred to as Red Command from growing their influence.

Initially, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the final tally of casualties to be 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as drug terrorists and called the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the situation had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The governor also said that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, vests, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse