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Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how residents brought back mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan stated. Among them were those of police officers.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - others were "completely mutilated", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were coming in.

Itan explained that law enforcement prevented journalists from going into the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who was raised in the community, stated he succeeded to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described during the night, area inhabitants started looking the hillside that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence reveal the response of the people there.

"The violence of the situation impacted me a lot: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting a criminal group called Red Command from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of casualties as 132.

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

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.

Per reporter a specialist, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "business partners".

The gang engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of the region, the political leader, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities during the raid has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference the following day, the official supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the events worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader also said that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he said that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, vests, and arms" had been removed from the casualties and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse