By Tim Cocks

KAMPALA, May 1 (Reuters) - Uganda's military accused the Lord's Resistance Army rebels on Tuesday of staging a deadly ambush in Uganda, killing seven civilians and jeopardising a ceasefire that has halted two decades of civil war.

Army spokesman for northern Uganda Chris Magezi told Reuters the rebels attacked three trucks on their way to southern Sudan on Monday night, about 4 km (2.485 miles) from the border.

"We recovered the bodies this morning," he said. "They were stripped naked then beaten to death. The rebels also burned the trucks and looted their merchandise."

He said this was the first time the rebels had ambushed vehicles in Uganda -- an act which was once their trademark -- since peace talks with the government began in south Sudan in July.

The LRA were not immediately available for comment.

Magezi said anecdotal evidence from survivors of the attack pointed to the LRA. The attackers spoke the language of the LRA's Acholi tribe, Luo, and had questioned their victims about army positions, he said.

Peace talks resumed in the south Sudanese capital, Juba, last Thursday. Most LRA fighters have remained in south Sudan and east Democratic Republic of the Congo while they continue.

The rebels have been accused of several road ambushes in Sudan since last year, though they have denied them all and officials say remnants of Khartoum's Sudan Armed Forces may be to blame for some of them.

Last month, the LRA and government extended an August truce, raising hopes of an end to a brutal insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 1.7 million.

"If the rebels make incursions in Uganda, we shall not waste one minute. We shall move in and attack them," Magezi said, adding that the army had pursued the group into southern Sudan but they had scattered.

Beating civilians to death has become a tell-tale LRA tactic, like abducting children and mutilating victims. Fear of LRA brutality has driven many into refugee camps.

The miserable conditions in northern Uganda's camps led the United Nations to describe it as one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes.

Some doubt the LRA will make peace unless the International Criminal Court drops arrest warrants for their leader, Joseph Kony, and four others for war crimes.

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