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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how community members brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The photographer explained that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out alerting him there was a shoot-out.

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

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

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

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he continued until dawn.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members living in Penha organized the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me deeply: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The governor of the region stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang called the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of people killed as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with First Capital Command, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Based on reporter an expert, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and becoming "business partners".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The official of Rio state, the political leader, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, the state leader defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the situation worsened because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he claimed that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse