A rocket barrage slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone in Kabul, Afghanistan, where many embassies and international firms are based, killing at least eight civilians and wounding dozens more on Saturday.

Tariq Arian, the spokesman for the interior ministry, said “terrorists” mounted the rockets on a small truck and set them off, adding an investigation was underway to find out how the vehicle came inside the city undetected.

“Based on initial information eight people were martyred and 31 others were wounded,” Arian said, noting the final toll would change.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz confirmed the same tolls and details.

Some residents filmed the projectiles being launched and posted them on social media. Several images circulating on Facebook showed damaged cars and a hole in the side of a building.

Taliban fighters denied involvement in the attack, saying they “do not blindly fire on public places”.

The barrage sent warning sirens blaring from embassy compounds and came two days before a major donor conference for Afghanistan in Geneva, Switzerland.