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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the results of a massive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how community members brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One individual had been decapitated - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted about the operation Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and declared: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he succeeded to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing following the security action.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images show the emotions of the people there.

"The harsh reality of what occurred shook me a lot: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to stopping a gang called the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "commercial associates".

The gang concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, the political leader, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities stating they were "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader defended the police force.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He added that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he claimed that some of them had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse