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Bruno Itan

A reporter who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has described how community members returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. Among them were those of police officers.

One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "severely damaged", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he was first alerted about the operation early on Tuesday by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness made his way to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces prevented journalists from entering the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

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

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, stated he managed to make his way into the restricted zone, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, community members began to search the mountainous area that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a square - the documented evidence show the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all impacted me profoundly: the grief of loved ones, mothers fainting, women carrying children, sobbing, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The official of Rio state stated that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting a gang known as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials maintained that sixty individuals and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on crime in Rio for years, the gang "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates".

The organization concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, valuable minerals, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack using drone-delivered explosives.

The official of the region, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as criminal extremists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

But the number of people killed in the operation has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified".

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

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He continued that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

Through a message on social media, he said that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A law enforcement representative from the police department additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and firearms" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse