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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were coming in.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He described during the night, community members began to search the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred shook me a lot: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio over many years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, precious metals, fuel, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he said.

He further explained that the situation intensified due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Through a message on online platforms, he said that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse