🔗 Share this article

The eyewitness

An eyewitness who witnessed the results of a massive law enforcement action in the Brazilian city has recounted how residents returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan stated. Among them were security forces.

One individual was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during Tuesday's raid on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

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

The photographer traveled to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the victims were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police blocked media personnel from entering the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

"Security forces formed a line and declared: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he succeeded to make his way into the restricted zone, where he stayed until the next morning.

He reported during the night, area inhabitants began to search the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a public space - and Itan's photos display the reaction of those present.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, weeping, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered.

The photographer

The state leader of the state stated that the large-scale security action deploying about 2,500 officers was designed to preventing an illegal organization known as Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals have been killed.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the overall count of fatalities at 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has been able to increase its control across the region.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

According to reporter Rafael Soares, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "business partners".

The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking weapons, gold, fuel, alcohol cigarettes.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, described gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and referred to the security forces who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the security action has received condemnation from UN human rights officials stating they were "appalled".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He further explained that the situation intensified as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the retaliation they executed and the excessive violence by the illegal group."

The governor also said that the casualties shown by residents in the area were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A police official of Rio's civil police force further reported that military attire, vests, and arms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video appearing to show a man stripping military attire {off a corpse