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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. They included security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He explained that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the mountainous area that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos display the reaction of those present.

"The violence of it all impacted me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The official of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 security personnel was designed to preventing an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

Initially, local officials maintained that sixty individuals and four police officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations suggests that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of casualties at 132.

According to researchers, the gang is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, alongside another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city extensively, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor smoking products.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of Rio state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

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

At a news conference the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the situation intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members in the area were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he said that some of them had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi representing security forces also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse