🔗 Share this article The bodies just kept coming - photographer recounts deadly Rio security action The eyewitness Dozens of bodies were displayed in an open area in Penha in the wake of the most lethal operation Rio has ever seen A photographer who observed the consequences of a massive Brazilian police operation in the metropolitan area has described how community members brought back mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives. The victims "kept piling up: the count kept increasing", the photographer stated. The total contained security forces. A particular victim had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he explained. Many also had what he described as stab wounds. Over 120 individuals were killed during the security action against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city. In excess of 100 suspects were taken into custody as part of the police action The eyewitness explained that he initially learned to the raid Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him there was a shoot-out. The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought. Itan explained that law enforcement blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the operation were occurring. "Security forces created a barrier and said: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'." But Itan, who spent his childhood in the community, explained he succeeded to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning. He described that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members who were unaccounted for after the operation. Local people of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the discovered victims in a public space - and Itan's photos display the reaction of the people there. "The brutality of the situation affected me deeply: the pain of loved ones, women collapsing, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted. The eyewitness There was shock in the neighborhood as locals recovered additional victims from the surrounding area The official of the region announced that the massive police operation involving around 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to stopping a gang known as Red Command from growing their influence. Initially, local officials claimed that sixty individuals plus four law enforcement personnel" were fatally injured in the raid. Officials subsequently stated that initial estimates shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives. The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of people killed as 132. Based on expert analysis, Red Command represents the unique criminal entity that recently has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state. It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside another major gang, and has a history dating back more than 50 years. Per reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the gang "works as a system" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and becoming "operational allies". The organization focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, gold, energy resources, alcohol and tobacco. According to the authorities, organization members are well armed and police said that while the action was underway, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones. The official of the region, the government representative, described organization participants as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces killed in the raid as courageous individuals. However, the count of fatalities in the security action has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "horrified". At a news conference the next day, the official justified security actions. "It wasn't our intention to kill anyone. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said. He further explained that the events intensified due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response by those criminals." The state leader additionally stated that the casualties shown by residents in the area had been "manipulated". Through a message on social media, he claimed that some of them had been removed of tactical gear that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation onto the police". A police official representing security forces further reported that military attire, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse