Complex sentence: The Assad government denied that it used any chemical weapons in the air strike and that the attack was a "100 per cent fabrication" intended to provide a pretext for the airstrike on the Shayrat Airbase.
Split into simpler sentences: The Assad government denied that it used any chemical weapons in the air strike. The Syrian government has since claimed that the attack was a "100 per cent fabrication" intended to provide a pretext for the airstrike on the Shayrat Airbase.