Twenty-four thousand people fled a refugee camp in northern Uganda after it was briefly overrun by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, a spokesman from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

About 200 LRA rebels killed four soldiers and eight civilians in the attack near Gulu, losing 11 of their own fighters, the Ugandan army reports.

All the stocks, food and non-food, have been looted, and they completely burnt the staff quarters

Bushra Malik UNHCR

UNHCR spokesman Bushra Malik said the rebels looted the camp's supplies and burnt down staff quarters.

The army reports that it has now retaken control and says some refugees have started to return.

About 10,000 refugees are known to have sought shelter in a nearby trading centre after the attack.

Mr Malik said the camp was home to mostly Sudanese refugees, but also to many Ugandan civilians, who had taken refuge there following rebel attacks over the past two months.

Troops overpowered

The latest raid comes only three days after the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, moved to the north of the country to take charge of operations against the rebels.

A group of LRA rebels attacked the Achol-Pii camp near Gulu at 0630 local time (0330 GMT) on Monday morning, according to Mr Malik.

The rebels overpowered the Ugandan army unit stationed at the UN camp and spent two hours looting.

"All the stocks, food and non-food, have been looted, and they completely burnt the staff quarters," Mr Malik said.

A number of people were also abducted, including two female teachers, he added.

Death toll fears

The BBC's Will Ross in Kampala says it is feared that more people may have died because, according to the UNHCR, the LRA rebels took control of a Ugandan army tank which they then turned on the refugees and government troops.

The Ugandan army has entered Sudan to hunt the LRA

"The refugees are traumatised and they are trying to find ways of staying safe," Mr Malik said.

The Achol-Pii camp, 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of the capital, Kampala, was built for Sudanese refugees, but due to the recent insecurity Ugandan civilians have also been seeking refuge there.

The LRA rebels have for the past two months been carrying out numerous attacks on the civilian population and the Ugandan army has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent these attacks.

Call for talks

The LRA, which for years had the backing of the Sudanese Government, has been fighting the Ugandan Government for the past 16 years, carrying out massacres and abducting thousands of young civilians into the rebel ranks.

This is the second time a refugee camp has been targeted by the LRA.

Last month, six Sudanese refugees were killed in an attack in the north-west of the country.

In the light of the recent LRA insurgency, there are growing calls for peace talks between the government and the rebels.

Currently a group of religious leaders is attempting to hold talks with the LRA.

Mr Museveni has backed up the idea of dialogue by writing personally to the rebels, one of the religious leaders has said.