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Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the photographer reported. Among them were security forces.

One individual was found without a head - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer explained that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

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

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

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

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained that evening, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation affected me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to preventing an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Originally, state authorities maintained that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "shocked".

In a media appearance the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the events worsened because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official also said that the bodies presented by community members in the area were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official from the police department further reported that military attire, vests, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse