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The eyewitness

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has reported how residents came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. They included those of police officers.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

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

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

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

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the area, reported he managed to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members began to search the elevated terrain that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The violence of what occurred impacted me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting an illegal organization called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of fatalities at 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, together with a rival criminal group, with a background spanning over five decades.

According to reporter an expert, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "business partners".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, but also smuggles guns, gold, petroleum products, beverages smoking products.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the region, the political leader, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "appalled".

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

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

He further explained that the situation intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they executed and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The official additionally stated that the bodies presented by community members 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 toward law enforcement".

A police official of Rio's civil police force also said that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and showed footage seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse