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The photographer

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how local people returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual was discovered headless - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

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

The eyewitness explained that he initially learned to the raid in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from going into the affected area, where the police action were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and announced: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he succeeded to make his way past the security perimeter, where he continued through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images show the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation shook me profoundly: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the state announced that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 officers was intended to preventing a gang known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government stated that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

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

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has put the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to make territorial gains across the region.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with another major gang, with a background extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio over many years, the gang "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking guns, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He further explained that the circumstances worsened because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the counterattack they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he said that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that military attire, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse