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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how residents returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area organized the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

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

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting a gang known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

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

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of fatalities at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that recently has succeeded to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs nationally, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates are well armed and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

During a press briefing the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We intended to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the events intensified as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in the area were "altered".

Through a message through digital channels, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse