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Bruno Itan

A photographer who observed the aftermath of a massive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how residents brought back disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The victims "kept coming: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan described. The total contained those of police officers.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - while others appeared "severely damaged", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be stab wounds.

More than 120 people were killed in the Tuesday operation against a criminal group - the bloodiest action in the city.

The photographer reported that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages telling him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The photographer made his way to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were coming in.

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

"Security forces formed a line and said: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who spent his childhood in the area, stated he succeeded to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night.

He reported that evening, community members started looking the hillside that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Community members from the Penha area arranged the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos display the response of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of it all affected me profoundly: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The state leader of the state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a gang referred to as Red Command from increasing their control.

At first, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" lost their lives in the raid.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 "suspects" were fatally injured.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of fatalities at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command is the only criminal group that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory across the region.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, alongside First Capital Command, with a background extending half a century.

Per reporter an expert, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with local criminal leaders forming part of the gang and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in firearms, valuable minerals, energy resources, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and authorities stated that while the action was underway, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled gang affiliates as criminal extremists and described the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

However, the count of fatalities during the raid has received condemnation from UN human rights officials expressing they felt "horrified".

During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He further explained that the circumstances intensified due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It resulted of the counterattack they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The state leader further reported that the bodies displayed by locals in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Via a statement through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame onto the police".

Felipe Curi representing security forces also said that military attire, vests, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse