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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people returned with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained those of police officers.

A particular victim was found without a head - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

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

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted about the operation in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to the healthcare center, where the casualties were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from entering the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and announced: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, reported he was able to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, local residents began to search the mountainous area that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a square - the photographer's images reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The violence of it all affected me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The governor of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has put the overall count of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "operational allies".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members possess significant weaponry and police said that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He further explained that the situation intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The governor further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse