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

Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how local people came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness stated. They included security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted about the operation in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in the community, explained he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He described that evening, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation affected me a lot: the grief of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The official of Rio state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort with approximately 2,500 officers was aimed at halting a gang called the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, local officials stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

Authorities later reported that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs nationally, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The gang concentrates largely on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, energy resources, beverages smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the security action has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "horrified".

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

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the events had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

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

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation 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 an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse