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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has described how residents brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. The total contained those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he explained. Several bodies showed what appeared to be stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces formed a line and said: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night.

He reported that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the response of those present.

"The harsh reality of the situation impacted me profoundly: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, women carrying children, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The governor of the state declared that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to halting a gang known as Red Command from growing their influence.

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

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has put the final tally of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to expand its territory throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction nationally, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

According to correspondent an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "operational allies".

The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, precious metals, petroleum products, liquor cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as criminal extremists and called the four police officers killed in the raid as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "shocked".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He added that the situation intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the victims displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he said that certain victims had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department further reported that military attire, body armor, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video seemingly depicting an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse