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The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The victims "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer described. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was discovered headless - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The photographer reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

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

The eyewitness reported that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the police action were occurring.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he succeeded to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed through the night.

He explained during the night, local residents started looking the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence reveal the emotions of the people there.

"The harsh reality of what occurred affected me deeply: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of the state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at preventing a gang referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities stated that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has put the final tally of casualties at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has been able to expand its territory across the region.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs nationally, in company with First Capital Command, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco.

Based on official reports, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

Through a message through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official representing security forces also said that military attire, vests, and arms" had been removed from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a man stripping military attire {off a corpse