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The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has described how residents brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him about the operation Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the area, explained he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members began to search the elevated terrain which divides Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos display the response of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me a lot: the grief of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from increasing their control.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the total number of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking firearms, precious metals, fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "horrified".

During a press briefing the following day, the official defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He continued that the situation had escalated as the individuals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha were "altered".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official from the police department also said that military attire, vests, and arms" had been removed from the victims and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse