Global chemical weapons watchdog says it found no evidence to back Syrian claim of 2017 gas attack

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The global chemical weapons watchdog says it found no evidence to support a claim by Syria that its forces were attacked using toxic gas in 2017. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Tuesday that its fact-finding mission concluded that “there are no reasonable grounds to determine that chemicals were used as a weapon” in two incidents. They happened in July and August 2017 in Massasneh, a village in the central province of Hama. Syria asked the watchdog to investigate after reporting a “mortar attack with poisonous gas” on its army in the town. The watchdog says its investigators visited Syria three times to investigate and interview witnesses but they found no evidence of a gas attack.