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The photographer

A photographer who witnessed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The bodies "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual had been decapitated - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The photographer reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness traveled to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the police action was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and said: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Residents living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of it all impacted me a lot: the grief of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region announced that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to halting a gang referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

At first, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" were fatally injured in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has calculated the total number of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, together with another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent Rafael Soares, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, energy resources, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

But the number of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader justified security actions.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the situation had escalated due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The governor also said that the casualties shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse