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Bruno Itan

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. They included law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that security forces prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued until dawn.

He described that evening, local residents began to search the elevated terrain which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a square - and Itan's photos show the response of those present.

"The brutality of what occurred affected me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting a criminal group referred to as Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed in the operation.

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

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of casualties at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "shocked".

In a media appearance the following day, the official defended the police force.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The official further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

In a post on social media, he said that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse