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The eyewitness

A photographer who observed the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how community members brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness described. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was discovered headless - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan stated that he was first alerted about the operation in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

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

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, stated he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the hillside that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos show the response of those present.

"The harsh reality of the situation shook me deeply: the pain of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to stopping a gang referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, fuel, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, the government representative, labeled organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the official defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the events worsened because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official further reported that the victims shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show a person stripping military attire {off a corpse