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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how residents returned with badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. The total contained those of police officers.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to a local medical facility, where the bodies were coming in.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the police action were occurring.

"Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, reported he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued until dawn.

He reported that evening, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of it all shook me a lot: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The official of the region declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the overall count of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside another major gang, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

According to reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

During a press briefing the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The state leader further reported that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and showed footage seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse