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The eyewitness

A photographer who documented the consequences of a massive security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel.

One individual was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness reported that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the casualties were arriving.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation were occurring.

"Security forces established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that evening, community members commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Residents living in Penha arranged the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The violence of it all affected me a lot: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at halting an illegal organization referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

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

Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has put the overall count of casualties at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside another major gang, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, who has long reported on crime in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with area gang leaders joining the organization and serving as "business partners".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, gold, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and authorities stated that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, described organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

In a media appearance the next day, the official justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We wanted to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The official further reported that the victims presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Via a statement on online platforms, he asserted that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence seemingly depicting an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse