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The photographer

An eyewitness who documented the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people brought back badly injured victims of those who had died.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. The total contained security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

More than 120 people were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned about the operation early on Tuesday by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter traveled to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the operation zone, where the operation were taking place.

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the area, explained he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He described during the night, community members started looking the mountainous area that borders the Penha neighborhood from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the documented evidence display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of the situation impacted me profoundly: the pain of relatives, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, angry family members," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of Rio state announced that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at preventing an illegal organization known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals along with four officers" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the criminal organization stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline extending half a century.

Per Brazilian journalist a specialist, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "commercial associates".

The criminal group focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, gold, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers fatally injured in the action as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he said.

He added that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he said that certain victims had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse