Rio de Janeiro. Families began burying loved ones Thursday after one of Rio de Janeiro’s deadliest police raids left more than 130 people dead, including four officers, sparking outrage among residents who accused law enforcement of torture and extrajudicial killings.

At least 132 people were killed during Tuesday’s operation, including four policemen, according to a Thursday tally by Rio de Janeiro’s public defenders’ office. The operation’s stated objectives were capturing leaders and limiting the territorial expansion of the Red Command gang, which has increased its control over favelas in recent years. The organized crime group has also expanded its presence across Brazil in recent years, including in the Amazon rainforest.

In Vila Cruzeiro, part of the sprawling Penha favela complex, grief and anger filled the air as government officials and lawmakers met with residents demanding accountability. On Wednesday, bodies were lined up along the street, a chilling reminder of the scale of violence during Tuesday’s massive operation.

The raid, involving around 2,500 police and soldiers, targeted the Red Command gang in the Complexo do Alemão and Complexo da Penha neighborhoods. Officials claimed the dead were gang members who resisted arrest. But human rights groups, the United Nations, and Brazil’s top court condemned the unprecedented death toll and questioned the police tactics.

“This wasn’t an operation; these were assassinations,” said Monique Santiliano, a 40-year-old salon owner in Vila Cruzeiro. “They didn’t come to arrest; they came to kill.”

Conservative Rio state gov. Claudio Castro said on Tuesday that Rio was at war against “narco-terrorism,” a term that echoed the Trump administration in its campaign against drug smuggling in Latin America. He called the operation a success.

Human Rights Minister Macaé Evaristo told residents and journalists gathered in Penha that she did not accept that claim and that the fight against organized crime should target masterminds and financiers.

“There’s no point in coming into our communities and exposing children, the elderly and people with disabilities to such terror,” she said.

While some in Brazil, particularly right-wing voters and politicians, applauded the operation against the heavily-armed gang, others questioned whether it would achieve lasting results and argued that many of those killed were low-ranking and easily replaceable.

“I think we’re dealing with an ambush whose sole objective was execution,” he said. “We cannot think that the state can grant the police the right to kill anyone.”

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Castro and police commanders to appear at a hearing next week to explain the operation, which left residents reporting bodies that appeared tortured or mutilated.

As funerals took place across the city, families carried white flowers and tears. “These boys have a father, a mother, sisters, and brothers,” said Grasiele Soares, whose 22-year-old brother was among the dead. “My family is destroyed.”

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