The casualties continued piling up - reporter shares deadly Rio law enforcement operation

Bruno Itan

An eyewitness who observed the aftermath of an extensive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has described how residents returned with disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - others were "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had what appeared to be knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals were killed during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

Bruno Itan reported that he initially learned about the operation Tuesday morning by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who contacted him telling him gunfire had erupted.

The photographer made his way to the healthcare center, where the bodies were arriving.

The photographer stated that law enforcement stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and announced: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'."

But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, reported he was able to gain access past the security perimeter, where he remained until dawn.

He described that evening, area inhabitants started looking the elevated terrain that borders the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images display the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of the situation shook me deeply: the pain of the families, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state stated that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was aimed at preventing an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Originally, state authorities maintained that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the operation.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to the poor, has put the total number of people killed at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has succeeded to increase its control across the region.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, together with another major gang, and has a history extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has been covering crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and becoming "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages and tobacco.

Based on official reports, gang members have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the state, the government representative, labeled Red Command members as drug terrorists and called the security forces killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of casualties during the raid has received condemnation from UN human rights officials saying it was "shocked".

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

"It wasn't our intention to result in deaths. We aimed to arrest them all alive," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances intensified because the suspects had retaliated: "It resulted of the resistance they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official further reported that the bodies presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

In a post on online platforms, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation onto the police".

Felipe Curi from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, body armor, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse