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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the photographer described. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted about the operation in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, explained he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Residents living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of it all shook me deeply: the pain of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the operation.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the overall count of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking weapons, gold, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the region, the political leader, labeled organization participants as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of people killed in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the official defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the events intensified due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The state leader further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

In a post on social media, he said that some of them had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that military attire, vests, and weapons" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse