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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who observed the results of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he reported. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the police action were taking place.

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

But Itan, who was raised in the community, explained he was able to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all affected me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting a gang known as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of people killed at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The gang focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and called the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "appalled".

At a news conference the next day, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that military attire, vests, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and showed footage appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse