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The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how residents came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. Among them were those of police officers.

A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what he described as blade trauma.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he was able to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that evening, community members started looking the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos display the response of those present.

"The violence of it all shook me a lot: the grief of the families, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has been able to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

According to reporter a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total 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".

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

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances worsened because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse