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The photographer

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how local people came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. They included those of police officers.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

The photographer explained that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and announced: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He described during the night, area inhabitants commenced searching the hillside that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Local people living in Penha organized the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence show the response of those present.

"The violence of it all impacted me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to halting a gang called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group that recently has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of casualties during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "shocked".

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

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

He further explained that the circumstances worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The governor additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that military attire, vests, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse