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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who documented the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how local people came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness reported. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to a local medical facility, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were taking place.

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

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the hillside that separates Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Local people living in Penha organized the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of what occurred impacted me deeply: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of the region declared that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

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

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent an expert, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The organization focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, alcohol smoking products.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the political leader, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials stating they were "appalled".

At a news conference the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the situation had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse