By Tim Cocks

KAMPALA, July 5 (Reuters) - The Ugandan army said on Thursday it killed eight armed Kenyan bandits and lost one of its own soldiers in a gun battle on the two countries' border.

Army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye said Pokot cattle raiders from western Kenya crossed the border and launched two attacks on Ugandan army positions on Tuesday, killing one officer.

"The patrol immediately returned fire and killed eight of them," he said, adding that the army recovered 250 heads of cattle they believed to have been raided by the Pokot.

The drought-prone region bordering northeastern Uganda and Kenya has suffered banditry and inter-clan wars for decades, fuelled by disputes over shrinking water supplies and cheap, semi-automatic weapons trafficked from the Horn of Africa.

The United Nations and aid agencies have criticised Uganda's army for what they say are heavy handed tactics in efforts to disarm Karamojong warriors in the region, such as firing on villages from helicopter gunships.

Kenyan media reported the clashes had happened in Kenya and that the Ugandan army had fired rockets.

"This is speculation. It happened in Uganda, not Kenya. There were no helicopters, no rockets," Kulayigye said.

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