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Bruno Itan

A photographer who observed the results of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how community members returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan stated. They included security forces.

One individual was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

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

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, explained he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He reported that evening, community members began to search the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of it all affected me deeply: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of the region stated that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a criminal group referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the total number of fatalities at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside First Capital Command, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The organization engages primarily in drug trafficking, but also smuggles weapons, gold, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, the government representative, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

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

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

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the events worsened as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

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

In a post on social media, he said that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse