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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has described how residents came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - while others appeared "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed evidence of stab wounds.

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

The photographer stated that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

Itan explained that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he succeeded to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He reported during the night, community members started looking the mountainous area that borders Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing following the security action.

Local people living in Penha arranged the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos display the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me a lot: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of the state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to preventing a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

At first, local officials stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the overall count of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs nationally, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city extensively, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "business partners".

The gang focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "shocked".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He added that the circumstances had escalated due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The governor further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the area had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse