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The eyewitness

An eyewitness who observed the results of an extensive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has reported how community members brought back disfigured remains of those who had died.

The casualties "kept piling up: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer stated. They included those of police officers.

One individual was found without a head - additional victims were "severely damaged", he said. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him to the raid early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages telling him gunfire had erupted.

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

The eyewitness reported that the police stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation were taking place.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives doesn't get past here'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained through the night.

He described that evening, community members commenced searching the hillside which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing since the police raid.

Local people from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos show the emotions of those present.

"The violence of it all shook me a lot: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of Rio state declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 security personnel was designed to stopping a criminal group called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, state authorities stated that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" had been killed during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" have been killed.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has put the total number of people killed at 132.

According to researchers, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains across the region.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, in company with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades.

Based on Brazilian journalist a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and becoming "business partners".

The gang engages primarily in drug trafficking, while also dealing in guns, gold, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco.

According to the authorities, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that while the action was underway, they came under attack from explosive-laden drones.

The official of the state, the government representative, described Red Command members as criminal extremists and described the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials saying it was "horrified".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He continued that the circumstances worsened as the individuals had retaliated: "It resulted of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence by those criminals."

The governor also said that the bodies shown by residents in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

In a post through digital channels, he asserted that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" were taken away from the victims and displayed evidence appearing to show an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse