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The photographer

A photographer who observed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Several bodies showed evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation in the city.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people from the Alemão area, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the affected area, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to gain access into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported that evening, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in an open area - and Itan's photos display the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me deeply: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to halting a criminal group called Red Command from growing their influence.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the final tally of fatalities to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has been able to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, in company with another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles guns, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of Rio state, the government representative, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces who died during the operation as brave public servants.

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

In a media appearance the next day, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the events had escalated due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor further reported that the casualties shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A law enforcement representative from the police department further reported that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" were stripped from the victims and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse