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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the consequences of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how community members returned with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were those of police officers.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had what he described as blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city.

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him about the operation early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and announced: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, stated he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained during the night, local residents commenced searching the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos show the response of the people there.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization referred to as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government stated that sixty individuals along with four officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to the poor, has put the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has been able to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

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

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, but also smuggles guns, valuable minerals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the four police officers who died during the operation as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that some of them had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A police official representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse