The victims kept arriving - eyewitness describes fatal Rio law enforcement operation

The photographer

A reporter who documented the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has reported how community members came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer reported. Among them were those of police officers.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city.

Bruno Itan explained that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, stated he was able to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported during the night, local residents started looking the hillside which divides the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents from the Penha area organized the located casualties in a square - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me profoundly: the sorrow of the families, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The official of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to stopping a gang known as Red Command from increasing their control.

At first, local officials maintained that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs nationally, alongside First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "operational allies".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, precious metals, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, the political leader, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the situation worsened because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he said that certain victims had been taken of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse