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The photographer

A reporter who observed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he said. Numerous victims displayed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer went to the healthcare center, where the victims 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: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images show the emotions of those present.

"The violence of it all shook me a lot: the pain of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the state stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at preventing a criminal group called Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of fatalities at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to increase its control across the region.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking weapons, gold, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the state, the political leader, characterized gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties during the raid has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "appalled".

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

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

He further explained that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader also said that the bodies displayed by locals in Penha had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he said that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse