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Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the results of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted to the raid Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that the police prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and declared: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in the community, stated he was able to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until dawn.

He reported during the night, local residents started looking the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence show the reaction of the people there.

"The violence of the situation shook me deeply: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of the region stated that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, state authorities stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

They have since said that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the overall count of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter an expert, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking firearms, gold, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as criminal extremists and called the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

But the number of people killed in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He further explained that the events had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the bodies presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he said that some of them had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse