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Bruno Itan

A reporter who witnessed the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. Among them were security forces.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "severely damaged", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, stated he succeeded to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a public space - the photographer's images show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation affected me a lot: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing a gang referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has put the final tally of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, but also smuggles guns, gold, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties during the raid has received condemnation from UN human rights officials 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 aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the situation intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on online platforms, he said that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse