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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has described how residents returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer reported. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported that evening, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images show the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to halting a gang referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, local officials stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of casualties to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, gold, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

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

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He added that the events had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, vests, and arms" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse