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The photographer

An eyewitness who observed the consequences of an extensive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

The photographer stated that he initially learned concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

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

The eyewitness reported that the police blocked media personnel from accessing the affected area, where the police action was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel created a barrier and said: 'The press doesn't get past here'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the mountainous area which divides Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Community members living in Penha organized the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence display the emotions of those present.

"The violence of what occurred shook me profoundly: the sorrow of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The official of Rio state stated that the large-scale security action with approximately 2,500 security personnel was intended to halting an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

At first, state authorities claimed that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates shows that 117 individuals have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to the poor, has estimated the total number of people killed as 132.

According to researchers, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has succeeded to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, in company with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, Red Command "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in guns, valuable minerals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of casualties during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to arrest them all alive," he said.

He continued that the circumstances had escalated because the suspects had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the casualties displayed by locals in Penha had been "manipulated".

Via a statement through digital channels, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that tactical gear, body armor, and weapons" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show a person removing tactical gear {off a corpse