KATHMANDU, Nov 30 (Reuter) - At least two Tibetans, fleeing their homeland, were injured when Nepali police fired at them in a remote village in the Himalayan kingdom, officials said on Saturday.

The incident took place at Lamabagar, about 180 kms (112 miles) north east of the Nepali capital on November 18, after 32 Tibetans crossed over to Nepal from the north.

A spokesman for Nepali Home (Interior) Ministry told Reuters on Saturday that the Tibetans who crossed over to the Nepali village attacked the local police with stones.

"Police were forced to open fire in self-defence in which two Tibetans were injured," the spokesman, Gopendra Bahadur Pandey, said.

The spokesman said one policeman was also injured in the attack by the reufgees.

Meanwhile, a local police official, who did not want to be identified, said three Tibetans were injured in the firing.

There was no independent confirmation of how the trouble began.

The incident occurred ahead of a visit by the Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Nepal next week.

There are no designated entry points for Tibetans along the 1,000-km (625 mile) trans-Himalayan border with Nepal.

Tibetans travel along the traditional mountain trails and passes to the Himalayan kingdom on their way to Dharmasala town in north India.

Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, has been living in Dharmasala with his followers since 1959 after an abortive uprising against the Chinese rule.

Communist troops entered Tibet in 1950 and overthrew the Buddhist theocracy in power. Beijing stakes its claim of sovereignty back to the 13th century but controversy has raged over the degree of Tibet's political independence from China in recent centuries.