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The photographer

A photographer who witnessed the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how community members came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the photographer described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

"Police officers formed a line and said: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, area inhabitants started looking the hillside that separates the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos display the reaction of those present.

"The violence of the situation shook me profoundly: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the eyewitness remembered.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region declared that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 officers was designed to halting a gang referred to as Comando Vermelho from increasing their control.

Initially, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" had been killed during the action.

Authorities later reported that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the total number of people killed at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has been able to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction nationally, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Based on reporter Rafael Soares, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on narcotics distribution, but also smuggles guns, gold, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the state, the government representative, described gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the security forces killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of people killed in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He continued that the events intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the resistance they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the victims shown by residents in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that some of them had been taken of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that military attire, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the bodies and presented video appearing to show a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse