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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how local people returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness described. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned concerning the action early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He reported during the night, local residents began to search the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos show the reaction of those present.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the pain of the families, women collapsing, pregnant wives, sobbing, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The official of the state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to preventing an illegal organization called the criminal faction from increasing their control.

At first, local officials claimed that "60 suspects along with four officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 individuals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of casualties to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the state, the political leader, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

During a press briefing the following day, the official justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The governor also said that the casualties shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he said that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse