Kurdish doctors report suspected Turkish gas attack in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian Kurdish news outlets and Syria's state-run news agency say six civilians have suffered breathing difficulties after what they say was a poison gas attack launched by Turkey on the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin.

The news outlets quote local doctors in Afrin as saying the hospital treated six cases of people who suffered shortness of breath, vomiting and skin rashes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also quoted local doctors in its report.

The claims could not be independently confirmed.

SANA on Saturday night said Turkey fired several shells containing "toxic substances" on a village in Afrin on Friday night, causing six civilians to suffer suffocation symptoms.

The Turkish military did not immediately comment on the reports Saturday but has previously stated that it does not use chemical weapons or other banned ammunition in its Afrin operation.