The casualties continued piling up - reporter shares lethal Rio law enforcement operation

Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the results of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

More than 120 people were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

Bruno Itan explained that he was first alerted about the operation early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action was under way.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the area, reported he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He reported that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos reveal the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of what occurred shook me profoundly: the pain of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to halting a gang known as Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs nationally, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background extending half a century.

Per correspondent a specialist, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "works as a system" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "operational allies".

The gang concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, precious metals, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as criminal extremists and called the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed during the raid has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the events intensified because the suspects fought back: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

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

Through a message through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and arms" had been removed from the victims and presented video appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse