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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the consequences of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents returned with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he explained. Several bodies showed what appeared to be knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer explained that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the casualties were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement prevented journalists from accessing the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers established a perimeter and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that evening, area inhabitants started looking the hillside which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the response of the people there.

"The violence of it all impacted me deeply: the sorrow of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 officers was designed to halting a criminal group called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials stated that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the final tally of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "works as a system" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and acting as "business partners".

The gang engages primarily in narcotics distribution, but also smuggles weapons, gold, energy resources, alcohol smoking products.

Based on official reports, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The governor of Rio state, the political leader, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of people killed in the security action has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

During a press briefing the next day, the state leader defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances intensified as the individuals had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in Penha had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video appearing to show an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse