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The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has recounted how community members came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. Among them were security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Numerous victims displayed evidence of blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

The photographer stated that he was first alerted concerning the action in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

The photographer stated that security forces prevented journalists from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were taking place.

"Security forces created a barrier and announced: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he was able to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Residents from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a square - the documented evidence show the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all impacted me a lot: the pain of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The governor of the region declared 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.

Initially, local officials claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of fatalities as 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has managed to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view one of the two largest gangs in the country, together with First Capital Command, and has a history extending half a century.

According to correspondent an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, precious metals, energy resources, alcohol cigarettes.

Per law enforcement statements, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that during the raid, they faced assaults from explosive-laden drones.

The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to result in deaths. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the retaliation they implemented and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in the neighborhood were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces additionally stated that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating a man stripping military attire {off a corpse