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The photographer

An eyewitness who documented the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people returned with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer stated. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies was found without a head - while others appeared "severely damaged", he explained. Several bodies showed evidence of blade trauma.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, stated he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that evening, area inhabitants commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area organized the located casualties in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation shook me deeply: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region announced that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to stopping a gang known as Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

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, Red Command is the only criminal group that in the past few years has managed to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with a rival criminal group, with a background extending half a century.

Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles guns, precious metals, energy resources, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and officials reported that while the action was underway, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the region, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

However, the count of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities stating they were "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the situation intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The state leader further reported that the victims presented by community members in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse