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Bruno Itan

A photographer who observed the aftermath of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has reported how local people brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation in the city.

The photographer explained that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by local people living in Alemão, who reached out informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, explained he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members began to search the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents living in Penha arranged the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred impacted me deeply: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to preventing a criminal group referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the final tally of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the region, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the events had escalated due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It resulted of the counterattack they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The governor also said that the bodies shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse