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The photographer

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has reported how local people brought back mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Numerous victims displayed what he described as blade trauma.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter went to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

Itan explained that law enforcement blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the police action were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the area, reported he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued through the night.

He reported during the night, local residents commenced searching the hillside that borders the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha organized the located casualties in a public space - and Itan's photos show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all impacted me a lot: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

They have since said that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of fatalities at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside another major gang, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles guns, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official also said that the victims presented by community members in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse