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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the results of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan stated. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and said: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, reported he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He described that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing following the security action.

Local people living in Penha organized the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The governor of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has put the overall count of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to increase its control across the region.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in the country, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Based on correspondent Rafael Soares, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio for years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of the state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "horrified".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He continued that the events intensified due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The state leader further reported that the casualties shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on social media, he said that certain victims had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi representing security forces also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse