🔗 Share this article

The eyewitness

A reporter who witnessed the aftermath of a large-scale security raid in the Brazilian city has described how local people came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Many also had what appeared to be blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid against a criminal group - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan explained that residents first notified him about the operation in the early hours by community members from the Alemão area, who contacted him alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The eyewitness went to the healthcare center, where the victims were coming in.

Itan explained that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the operation were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, explained he managed to make his way into the cordoned-off area, where he stayed until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, community members commenced searching the hillside which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for relatives who were unaccounted for since the police raid.

Residents of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all affected me deeply: the grief of relatives, women collapsing, women carrying children, weeping, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The governor of the region declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 officers was intended to halting a gang called Red Command from expanding its territory.

Initially, local officials maintained that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" lost their lives in the raid.

Officials subsequently stated that early calculations shows that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has estimated the total number of fatalities at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that recently has succeeded to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history extending half a century.

According to correspondent a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with area gang leaders affiliating with the group and becoming "operational allies".

The gang engages primarily in narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, petroleum products, alcohol cigarettes.

Based on official reports, gang members are well armed and officials reported that throughout the operation, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of Rio state, the political leader, characterized gang affiliates as drug terrorists and called the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "shocked".

In a media appearance on Wednesday, the official justified security actions.

"There was no objective to result in deaths. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he said.

He further explained that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by those criminals."

The official additionally stated that the casualties displayed by locals in the area had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that military attire, vests, and weapons" were stripped from the victims and presented video appearing to show a person cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse