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The photographer

A photographer who documented the results of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members returned with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that he initially learned concerning the action early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and said: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, explained he managed to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, sobbing, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to preventing a gang known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the final tally of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has managed to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties in the security action has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities stating they were "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the official justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in Penha had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he said that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi from the police department also said that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" were taken away from the casualties and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse