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The photographer

A reporter who documented the consequences of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how residents came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer stated. Among them were those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the operation zone, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and declared: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, reported he was able to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He explained that evening, community members started looking the elevated terrain that borders the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred shook me a lot: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to preventing a gang called Red Command from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities maintained that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has calculated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Based on reporter a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages smoking products.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

In a media appearance the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

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

He continued that the events intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The official also said that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse