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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how local people returned with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. The total contained security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

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

The photographer stated that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces formed a line and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, community members began to search the hillside which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the discovered victims in a square - the photographer's images show the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me profoundly: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a gang called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside another major gang, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, gold, energy resources, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the events had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The governor also said that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he said that some of them had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse