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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the results of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how residents came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him alerting him there was a shoot-out.

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

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and declared: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in the community, reported he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He described that evening, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the people there.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

Initially, local officials stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of fatalities at 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".

The gang concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, gold, petroleum products, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of the region, the political leader, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities stating they were "appalled".

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the circumstances intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It resulted of the counterattack they implemented and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader also said that the casualties presented by community members in the area were "altered".

Via a statement on social media, he said that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse