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The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness stated. The total contained security forces.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he said. Numerous victims displayed what appeared to be stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the community, reported he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed through the night.

He described that evening, community members commenced searching the mountainous area which divides the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence display the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of it all affected me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to halting a gang called Red Command from expanding its territory.

Originally, local officials stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has put the total number of fatalities as 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has been able to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio over many years, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, valuable minerals, energy resources, liquor smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that during the raid, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described organization participants as criminal extremists and described the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".

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

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He added that the situation intensified because the suspects fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The official additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in the neighborhood were "altered".

Through a message through digital channels, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

Felipe Curi representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, protective equipment, and arms" had been removed from the bodies and displayed evidence seemingly depicting a person stripping military attire {off a corpse