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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him about the operation early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers established a perimeter and announced: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He reported that evening, community members started looking the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The governor of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 officers was designed to preventing a gang called Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities claimed that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that initial estimates suggests that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

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

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and serving as "operational allies".

The organization focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of Rio state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities stating they were "appalled".

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

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the events had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The official further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he said that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse