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The photographer

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how residents brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he explained. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to the healthcare center, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the operation were occurring.

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

However, the photographer, who was raised in the community, explained he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the hillside that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of those present.

"The harsh reality of the situation impacted me deeply: the grief of the families, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing a criminal group referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has put the total number of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has managed to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, together with another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, petroleum products, alcohol smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, the political leader, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and described the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of casualties in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing the following day, the official defended the police force.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He continued that the circumstances had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader also said that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood were "altered".

Through a message on social media, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi from the police department also said that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse