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The photographer

A photographer who documented the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has reported how local people came back with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The victims "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the area, explained he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos show the emotions of the people there.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me a lot: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to stopping an illegal organization called the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has put the total number of casualties to be 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has been able to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, with a background spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as drug terrorists and described the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

During a press briefing the following day, the official justified security actions.

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

He added that the circumstances worsened as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The official further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse