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The photographer

A reporter who documented the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted about the operation early on Tuesday by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He reported during the night, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area organized the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation shook me deeply: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has calculated the overall count of people killed at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to increase its control across the region.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Based on correspondent an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles weapons, gold, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

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

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official additionally stated that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse