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The photographer

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed until dawn.

He described that evening, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Community members living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, pregnant wives, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing a criminal group called Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of casualties as 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in the country, in company with a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

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

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The state leader also said that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that military attire, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and showed footage appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse