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An eyewitness who observed the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has reported how community members returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", Bruno Itan reported. They included those of police officers.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as blade trauma.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness explained that he initially learned to the raid early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The eyewitness made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from accessing the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and announced: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who was raised in the community, stated he was able to enter into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He explained that evening, area inhabitants started looking the hillside which divides Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for family members who were unaccounted for following the security action.

Local people from the Penha area organized the discovered victims in a public space - the documented evidence reveal the reaction of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me profoundly: the pain of the families, parents losing consciousness, women carrying children, weeping, angry family members," the reporter recounted.

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The governor of Rio state announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was aimed at stopping a criminal group known as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

At first, the Rio state government maintained that "60 suspects along with four officers" lost their lives in the raid.

They have since said that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 "suspects" lost their lives.

The legal assistance organization, which provides legal assistance to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of people killed to be 132.

Based on expert analysis, the gang is the only criminal group which in recent years has succeeded to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside a rival criminal group, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per reporter a specialist, who has been covering illegal operations in Rio for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The criminal group concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages cigarettes.

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

The official of Rio state, the government representative, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked".

At a news conference the next day, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We aimed to detain everyone safely," he stated.

He added that the situation intensified as the individuals fought back: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response by the illegal group."

The state leader additionally stated that the victims presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "manipulated".

Through a message on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been removed of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame to security forces".

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