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The eyewitness

A reporter who observed the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how residents returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan stated. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as blade trauma.

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

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the casualties were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he managed to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He explained that evening, local residents started looking the mountainous area which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the photographer's images show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me deeply: the pain of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The official of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a criminal group called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the final tally of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to reporter a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the region, the government representative, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

But the number of people killed in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the circumstances intensified as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The official further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

Felipe Curi representing security forces also said that tactical gear, vests, and arms" had been removed from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse