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The photographer

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The bodies "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness described. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued through the night.

He reported during the night, community members began to search the elevated terrain that separates the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence display the emotions of those present.

"The violence of it all shook me a lot: the pain of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the overall count of casualties to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio for years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "business partners".

The gang concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, petroleum products, liquor cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "appalled".

In a media appearance the following day, the official justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official also said that the casualties shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message through digital channels, he said that some of them had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse