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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. The total contained security forces.

One individual was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he reported. Several bodies showed evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who had been missing following the security action.

Community members living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred affected me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was intended to stopping an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of fatalities to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.

Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and arms" were taken away from the victims and showed footage appearing to show an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse