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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation in the city.

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

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He explained that evening, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence show the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the grief of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting a gang called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of people killed at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to increase its control across the region.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

But the number of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

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

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in the area were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and showed footage appearing to show a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse