Teams of Marines backed by Cobra attack helicopters, .50-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers and TOW missiles patrolled the area around the camp, carrying photographs of al Qaeda leaders with them.

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Eight American troops and two Afghan security force members were killed Saturday when militants opened fire on an outpost with rockets, mortars and heavy-caliber machine guns, according to an initial U.S. military report on the battle.

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They returned fire with 50-caliber machine guns, they also returned fire with their M-16's -- Marines pointing out of the top firing, but not indiscriminantly, that is something the Marines point out -- only when they were fired upon and only when they could see the flashes, did they fire back.

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These are high-caliber munitions for the kind of machine gun that is typically mounted on armored personnel carriers and anti-aircraft guns.

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