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The eyewitness

A reporter who observed the results of an extensive security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how residents brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. They included security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who contacted him alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the casualties were being brought.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he succeeded to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area organized the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of the situation impacted me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping a criminal group known as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to the poor, has estimated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in guns, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, the political leader, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

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

He continued that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor further reported that the bodies presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official representing security forces also said that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse