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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the consequences of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how local people came back with badly injured victims of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained security forces.

One individual had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured in the Tuesday operation targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid the municipality has seen.

The photographer reported that he initially learned concerning the action Tuesday morning by community members of the Alemão neighbourhood, who sent him messages informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that security forces stopped members of the press from entering the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were occurring.

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

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the community, stated he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported during the night, local residents commenced searching the elevated terrain that borders Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who were unaccounted for after the operation.

Residents living in Penha proceeded to place the located casualties in a public space - the photographer's images display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of the situation affected me deeply: the sorrow of relatives, parents losing consciousness, pregnant wives, weeping, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to halting a criminal group referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

At first, local officials stated that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 individuals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the overall count of fatalities at 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that recently has been able to increase its control throughout Rio state.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, alongside another major gang, featuring a timeline dating back more than 50 years.

Per correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, precious metals, energy resources, liquor smoking products.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates possess significant weaponry and police said that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the region, the political leader, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the security forces fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

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

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He added that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the counterattack they executed and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood were "altered".

Via a statement on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official from the police department also said that military attire, vests, and arms" had been removed from the casualties and showed footage seemingly depicting a person stripping military attire {off a corpse