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The photographer

An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of an extensive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer described. The total contained security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him about the operation early on Tuesday by residents from the Alemão area, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that the police prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the operation were occurring.

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, explained he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he continued through the night.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants started looking the mountainous area that separates the community of Penha and the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the located casualties in a square - the documented evidence display the response of those present.

"The violence of it all shook me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, crying, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of the state declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting a criminal group called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, local officials maintained that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory across the region.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses forming part of the gang and serving as "business partners".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in guns, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as drug terrorists and called the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

At a news conference the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the circumstances intensified because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The governor further reported that the casualties presented by community members in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on online platforms, he said that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse