U.S. officials are warily watching as Syria begins moving undeclared chemical weapons out of its storage facilities.

Syria’s Assad regime may be preparing to use the weapons against rebels fighting its control, or may be moving them to safeguard them against opponents and to confuse Western governments, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Opposition leaders and Western governments say as many as 15,000 people have been killed by the regime in nearly 16 months of the uprising.

The weapons in transit — reportedly including the sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide — are creating increasing concern in Washington and elsewhere.

The Syrian government rejected reports that it was moving its weapons. — jta