( CNN ) -- Syria has destroyed a majority of its chemical weapons material , the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Saturday . `` The Syrian Arab Republic has removed or destroyed in-country approximately 80 percent of its chemical weapons material , '' according to the OPCW Executive Council . The OPCW also said Saturday that the regime of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is now on track to complete the disposal of the country 's chemical weapons in the next few days . If that happens , Syria would meet the deadline set by the OPCW for the destruction of the weapons before the end of April . `` The renewed pace in movements is positive and necessary to ensure progress towards a tight deadline , '' said Sigrid Kaag , special coordinator of the OPCW-U.N. Joint Mission in Damascus . In March , Syria submitted to the OPCW a revised proposal for its chemical weapons disposal with a deadline at the end of April . That revised deadline proposal followed a February report by the OPCW that the country had shipped out just 11 % of its weapons stockpile for disposal , falling far short of a February 5 deadline to have all such weapons removed . The slow pace of removal prompted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to warn in January that all options remain available to force compliance . Al-Assad agreed to get rid of all of Syria 's chemical weapons last fall to avoid a possible U.S. military strike against the regime . Attacks in Syria claim at least 13 lives . As the country remains on track for disposal of its chemical weapons , the violence in the years-long civil war rages on . Attacks in three cities Saturday killed at least 13 people and injured dozens more . A car bomb exploded in Hama Saturday , killing four people and injuring nine others , a source at Hama Police Command told SANA , Syria 's national news agency . The bomb targeted a convoy of four trucks carrying humanitarian aid workers with the Syrian Red Crescent organization . Mortar shelling and rocket attacks on neighborhoods in Homs left six people dead and at least 40 others injured . A car bomb also exploded near a mosque in Homs Saturday , according to SANA . An unknown number of casualties are reported in that attack . Three people were killed , including a 3-year-old child , and more than a dozen injured in mortar attacks on neighborhoods in Aleppo , according to SANA . SANA is also reported attacks in Daraa and Damascus Saturday injured at least 24 people , including 14 children . French journalists released . Four French journalists held hostage in Syria for the past 10 months are now on their way home . Journalists Edouard Elias , Didier FranÃ§ois , Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres are in good health despite the tough conditions they endured during their captivity , the Elysee Palace said in a statement released Saturday . The men were taken hostage last June . French President Francois Hollande learned of the journalists ' release with `` great relief , '' the statement said . The Elysee Palace also said the men are on their way home to France . Francois , a reporter , and Elias , a photographer , were on assignment in Syria for French radio station Europe 1 when they disappeared on June 6 , 2013 . They were en route to Aleppo and had already crossed the Turkish border into Syria when they vanished , according to the radio station . Reporter Henin and photographer Torres were taken hostage a short time later , on June 22 , the French Foreign Ministry said last October . Henin was working on assignment for Le Point magazine and the TV channel Arte , while Torres was there to cover municipal elections , the ministry said . Syria was the most deadly nation in the world for journalists on the job in 2013 . The Committee to Protect Journalists reported 29 journalists died covering the conflict there in 2013 , including some who died in Lebanon or Turkey . The report says more than 60 have died covering the war in Syria so far . CNN 's Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report .
OPCW : A majority of Syria 's chemical weapons have been removed . Syria on track to meet deadline for chemical weapons removal . Attacks in Syria claim 13 lives and injured 30 . Four French journalists held hostage in Syria released .