The victims kept arriving - reporter shares lethal Rio law enforcement operation

The eyewitness

A reporter who observed the results of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how residents brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

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

The photographer explained that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

Itan explained that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

"Security forces established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, community members began to search the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of those present.

"The brutality of the situation affected me a lot: the sorrow of loved ones, women collapsing, pregnant wives, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that sixty individuals along with four officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has calculated the final tally of people killed as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and becoming "business partners".

The criminal group engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, petroleum products, liquor smoking products.

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

The state leader of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

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

He further explained that the events worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official also said that the casualties displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative from the police department further reported that military attire, vests, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse