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Bruno Itan

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness described. The total contained security forces.

One individual was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had what he described as blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that he was first alerted to the raid early on Tuesday by community members living in Alemão, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

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

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

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

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued through the night.

He described that evening, area inhabitants began to search the hillside that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the discovered victims in an open area - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of what occurred impacted me a lot: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a gang known as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the total number of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, 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.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with First Capital Command, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Per correspondent a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in guns, gold, fuel, liquor cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of the state, the government representative, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

During a press briefing the next day, the official justified security actions.

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

He continued that the situation intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The official also said that the casualties displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that tactical gear, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse