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The photographer

An eyewitness who observed the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him there was a shoot-out.

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

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the area, reported he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He described during the night, community members began to search the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing following the security action.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of the situation affected me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of the region declared that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials claimed that sixty individuals and four police officers" had been killed in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the total number of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

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

Per reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members are well armed and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and described the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "appalled".

During a press briefing the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He continued that the events intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in the area had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse