By Daniel Wallis

KAABONG, Uganda (Reuters) - There was nothing the men of Kosui could do when gun-toting Jie warriors drove off their cattle in the middle of the night.

Local chief Sipiriano Lokwi said they had already handed over their weapons to the Ugandan army -- a rare example of cooperation with attempts to disarm Karamoja, Uganda's most forgotten and destitute region.

Across mountainous Karamoja, gunmen haunt ambush sites dubbed "No Man's Land" and "Beirut," shoot-outs with the army are frequent and deadly, and cattle rustling repeatedly flares between local tribes and rivals in neighboring Kenya and Sudan.

Karamoja has the lowest health and education levels in the whole of the east African country, and rampant insecurity threatens all development efforts.

Cattle raids, involving hundreds of cows, have been part of life for generations in a region that is home mainly to semi-nomadic herders, but the attacks have become more deadly in recent years as warriors replaced spears with assault rifles.

There are so many firearms that away from Karamoja's main dirt roads and towns, small boys can be seen leaning on AK-47s in the shade, guarding herds of goats.

Locals hide their guns from troops and like all previous attempts, the latest drive to collect weapons looks set to fail.

Lokwi is bitter about his experience with disarmament.

With no way to protect their precious livestock, he says his men are now at the mercy of their marauding neighbors and tormented by hunger during increasingly common droughts.

"How are we supposed to get our cows back?" he asked two days after the raid, as young warriors in silver earrings and colorful hats topped with feathers gathered to listen.

"We are already disarmed," he said sadly.

Nearby, United Nations aid workers unloaded tons of maize and beans -- the only things keeping Lokwi's Dodoth tribe alive.

AWASH WITH GUNS

President Yoweri Museveni launched the latest disarmament campaign in the northeastern town of Moroto a year ago.

"Anybody who tampers with this exercise will be in serious problems," he warned elders at the launch. But Museveni knows previous attempts have met with little success.

In 2001, the government tried to persuade Karamoja's tribes to disarm voluntarily by offering 80,000 iron sheets and more than 2,000 ox plow. It collected just 7,800 guns in return.

Residents said corruption meant iron sheets went to the wrong people. Many warriors were bewildered by the plows, which they saw as punishment for their precious animals.

This time, the government decided to use scores of local committees reaching down to the tiniest thorn-fenced villages to educate people about the benefits of disarmament.

But only 1,000 guns have been handed in, out of an army estimate of 19,000, although some observers say the number of illegal guns could be double that. Around 100 warriors have been jailed for firearm offenses and there have been many clashes.

In the worst, Pian warriors laid siege to the Nabilatuk army barracks in July and fought a gunbattle with troops for two days, killing civilians and at least seven soldiers.

They only fled after a helicopter gunship was called in.

Meanwhile, Uganda's poorest corner has been repeatedly struck by outbreaks of cholera and worsening droughts. Aid agencies say more than 500,000 people are dependent on food aid and 18 percent of children under five are malnourished.

WILD REGION

No government has succeeded in bringing peace to Karamoja.

British colonial officials used to employ spotter planes to search for the plumes of smoke from sacrificial fires that signaled an impending cattle raid. There were few other clues.

In 1972, the late dictator Idi Amin ordered all the Karamojong tribes to wear Western clothes instead of animal skins. He killed hundreds who ignored his decree.

When he was ousted seven years later, warriors ransacked Moroto barracks and used his own guns on his fleeing troops.

Today, some of the men driving the huge herds of cattle through Karamoja's fields of waving sunflowers are still carrying automatic rifles seized in that raid.

Others guns have filtered in from east Africa's many wars.

Local officials say some of the most remote communities have completely lost touch with the authorities.

Residents admit the military has a giant and thankless task trying to prevent cattle raids. The army is regularly accused of favoring one group of warriors over another, but residents also say troops sometimes steal livestock and commit rights abuses.

In March 2002, two soldiers were killed by firing squad for gunning down a 31-year-old Irish Catholic priest who had appealed for an end to army brutality.

Uganda's first public executions for a decade did little to ease tensions or to reassure locals that the army would defend them if they surrendered their precious weapons.

Gabriel Lochiyo's father was the first Karamojong to hand over his AK-47 rifle to the government in April 2001.

"As my father walked 20 kilometers (12 miles) to his home after picking up his government certificate, he met Turkana raiders from Kenya," the unemployed 27-year-old said in Kaabong village.

"They killed him and moved on."