A GANG of armed suspected cattle rustlers have wounded two members of the Namibian Police's Special Reserve Force in a gunfight after leading them into an ambush across the Zambian border on Sunday.

Members of the Special Reserve Force were tracking cattle that had been stolen in the Kaliangile area in the Caprivi Region earlier on Sunday when they were led into an ambush on Zambian territory, the Commanding Officer of the Police's Public Relations Division, Deputy Commissioner Hophni Hamufungu, said yesterday.

Hamufungu said seven members of the Special Reserve Force had been deployed to pursue suspected cattle thieves after an alleged robbery in which about 30 head of cattle had been stolen from two cattle kraals in the Kaliangile area, 60 kilometres southwest of Katima Mulilo.

In the alleged robbery, a cattle herder narrowly escaped injury when shots were fired at him and one of the bullets went through his shirt, Hamufungu said.

At least two cattle rustlers, but possible three or more, were involved in the incident, Hamufungu said.

He related that the Special Reserve Force members were following the tracks of the suspected thieves and the cattle they had driven off in the direction of Zambia when they crossed the border into Zambia without realising that they had entered the neighbouring country.

A couple of kilometres into Zambian territory the police officers walked into an ambush late on Sunday, Hamufungu said.

In the ensuing gunfight, in which the suspected rustlers appeared to be firing at the Police officers with Kalashnikov assault rifles, two of the Special Reserve Force members, both constables, were wounded, Hamufungu said.

The one officer was shot in the chest and stomach, while the other was wounded in the left arm.

The Special Reserve Force team had to spend the night at the site, Hamufungu said. By Monday, they had managed to report the incident to their regional headquarter, and they were then picked up with a helicopter and airlifted back to Katima Mulilo, Hamufungu said.

The two wounded officers were later flown to Windhoek for medical treatment.

They were in a serious but stable condition in a hospital in the city yesterday, he reported.

Hamufungu added that it was also reported that some of the stolen cattle had been returned to the Caprivi Region.