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The photographer

A reporter who documented the consequences of an extensive security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how community members brought back badly injured victims of the deceased individuals.

The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan reported. They included security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were killed during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by residents of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The photographer traveled to a local medical facility, where the bodies were coming in.

The photographer stated that law enforcement blocked media personnel from going into the affected area, where the security measures was under way.

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

However, the photographer, who grew up in the area, explained he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn.

He explained during the night, local residents began to search the elevated terrain that separates the community of Penha and the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Community members of the Penha neighbourhood arranged the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images reveal the reaction of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred affected me profoundly: the grief of relatives, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, sobbing, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the state stated that the large-scale security action involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has calculated the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city extensively, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, precious metals, energy resources, liquor and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members have substantial firearms and officials reported that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, described organization participants as drug terrorists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

However, the count of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he said.

He added that the events had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor also said that the victims shown by residents in Penha had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been taken of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A police official from the police department further reported that tactical gear, vests, and weapons" were taken away from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse