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The eyewitness

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents came back with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned about the operation in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were coming in.

Itan explained that the police blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he was able to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed until dawn.

He explained that evening, community members started looking the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who had been missing after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the recovered bodies in an open area - and Itan's photos reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all impacted me profoundly: the pain of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The official of the region declared that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of people killed to be 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, liquor 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 official of the state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

However, the count of people killed in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

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

He further explained that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The governor also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Through a message on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation onto the police".

A police official representing security forces additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse