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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the results of a massive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has described how local people came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

Itan explained that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the operation was under way.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the community, stated he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He described during the night, area inhabitants started looking the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred shook me deeply: the pain of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of Rio state announced that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting a criminal group referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, state authorities maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per correspondent an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, petroleum products, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "shocked".

In a media appearance the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the casualties shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official from the police department further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the victims and presented video appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse