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The photographer

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how residents brought back badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness stated. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "severely damaged", he reported. Many also had what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who reached out informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the operation zone, where the police action was under way.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he was able to make his way past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, community members commenced searching the elevated terrain which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area organized the located casualties in a public space - the photographer's images display the response of those present.

"The brutality of it all shook me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, women collapsing, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of Rio state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to preventing a gang called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to the poor, has estimated the total number of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in the country, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering crime in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "business partners".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in guns, precious metals, fuel, beverages and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of the region, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He further explained that the events intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The official additionally stated that the victims shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been taken of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and weapons" had been removed from the victims and showed footage seemingly depicting a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse