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The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how residents returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that the police prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were occurring.

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the community, explained he managed to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the response of those present.

"The violence of what occurred shook me profoundly: the pain of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of the region stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing an illegal organization called the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Initially, state authorities stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio for years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, but also smuggles firearms, precious metals, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, the political leader, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse