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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the results of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The photographer explained that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that the police blocked media personnel from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers created a barrier and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the area, stated he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing following the security action.

Local people living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - the photographer's images show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred shook me deeply: the pain of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping a gang referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, local officials maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has been able to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city extensively, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, energy resources, liquor cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

But the number of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

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

He added that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It resulted of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation to security forces".

Felipe Curi from the police department further reported that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video seemingly depicting a man stripping military attire {off a corpse