🔗 Share this article

The photographer

A reporter who documented the aftermath of an extensive security raid in the Brazilian city has described how residents returned with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the photographer stated. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "totally disfigured", he reported. Many also had what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people were killed during the security action against a criminal group - the deadliest such raid in the city.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him concerning the action early on Tuesday by local people of the Alemão neighbourhood, who reached out telling him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the casualties were coming in.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from going into the operation zone, where the operation was under way.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who was raised in the community, stated he was able to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, area inhabitants commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in an open area - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of those present.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me profoundly: the sorrow of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, crying, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the region declared that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was intended to halting an illegal organization referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

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

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

The public legal service, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has calculated the overall count of fatalities to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that recently has succeeded to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, alongside a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to Brazilian journalist an expert, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio for years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The gang focuses mainly on illegal drug trade, while also dealing in guns, precious metals, fuel, alcohol smoking products.

According to the authorities, organization members have substantial firearms and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, Cláudio Castro, characterized Red Command members as drug terrorists and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties in the operation has faced scrutiny from UN human rights officials saying it was "appalled".

At a news conference on Wednesday, the state leader justified security actions.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It resulted of the retaliation they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

In a post through digital channels, he said that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and weapons" were taken away from the victims and presented video apparently demonstrating a person stripping military attire {off a corpse