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The photographer

An eyewitness who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer described. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were being brought.

Itan explained that security forces prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in the community, explained he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he remained through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area which divides Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation affected me a lot: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The governor of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping an illegal organization called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

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

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has put the final tally of casualties as 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has succeeded to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

Based on reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles guns, valuable minerals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of Rio state, the government representative, characterized organization participants as criminal extremists and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

But the number of casualties in the security action has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he stated.

He further explained that the situation had escalated as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The state leader further reported that the bodies presented by community members in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement through digital channels, he said that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that military attire, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and displayed evidence apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse