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The photographer

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how residents returned with mutilated bodies of those who had died.

The casualties "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were arriving.

Itan explained that the police stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in an open area - the documented evidence reveal the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred impacted me deeply: the pain of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a gang known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has managed to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

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

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, gold, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the region, the government representative, described gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

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

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in the neighborhood were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he said that particular individuals had been stripped of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A police official from the police department also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and showed footage appearing to show a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse