Forces in Yemen’s Hodeidah province have completed preparations in anticipation of the legitimacy forces’ advance on the Houthi rebels in the region. First Hodeidah Undersecretary Walid Mohammed al-Qodaimy explained that these forces will act once the legitimacy forces make their advance with the backing of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition. The Yemeni army is currently advancing on Hodeidah’s west coast. Qodaimy told Asharq Al-Awsat that local tribes welcome the legitimacy forces’ advance and they are ready to cooperate to liberate Hodeidah from the clutches of the terrorist Houthi militias. “Hodeidah is the only remaining outlet for the Houthis through its strategic port, which it has been exploiting while neglecting to pay employee wages,” he added. He accused the militias of smuggling oil through the port, which is then sold on the black market. The militias have also seized United Nations food relief that is directed to the citizens. “It is imperative for the legitimate government and Arab Coalition forces, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to open the Tahama front on the west coast to bring about the real end of the Houthis,” he stressed. Qodaimy gave credit to the Republican Guards, led by Tariq Saleh, in the fast advances made on the ground, saying that they have started to play a decisive role on the battlefield. Saleh is the nephew of late former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed by the Houthis in December after he announced that he was severing his alliance with them. “There are many pleasant surprises in store for the Hodeidah residents in the days to come,” revealed Qodaimy. “We urge them against following the Houthi militias and instead cooperate with the resistance forces and Republican Guards that have come to free them from Iran’s agents,” he stressed.