The Yemeni army has seized important regions on the Malahiz front as it continued to pressure the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Saada and Hodeidah, announced Arab coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki on Monday. He spoke of collapses in Houthi ranks on the West coast, revealing that many of its leaderships were killed in the Razih region in Saada. Backed by the Arab coalition, the Yemeni forces continued their incursion in the West coast, arriving on the outskirts of Hodeidah city airport and its vital port. The airport is now within the legitimate forces’ firing range. The forces were making rapid advances in the coastal al-Durayhimi region 18 kms south of Hodeidah. A whole 100-member Houthi brigade was wiped out in the clashes. Its commander, Yehya Abdul Jabbar al-Shami, was among the dead. Hodeidah Governor al-Hassan al-Taher revealed that al-Tahita, Zabid and al-Jarahi areas were liberated from the Houthis. Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that legitimate forces were still, however, combating some Houthi pockets in Zabid, al-Jarahi, al-Husseinia and Beit al-Faqih. In Hodeidah city, witnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have been gripped by an unprecedented state of panic as the legitimacy forces made their advance. They revealed that the militias removed their checkpoints from the city and its senior leaderships began to flee the area. They started smuggling their families and looted goods to Sanaa. To counter this development, the militias tightened their security measures on the city’s exits where they inspected traveler identification cards to prevent the escape of the Houthis. President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was, meanwhile, briefed on the field developments by West coast operations commander Abou Zaraa al-Mahrami. The rapid advance of the legitimacy forces prompted Houthi leader, Abdul Malek al-Houthi, to make a speech from his hideout in an attempt to lift the morale of the militias. He tried to justify the losses near Hodeidah and the legitimacy advance on the city, saying: “Any retreat does not mean the end of the battle.” He pleaded with the Houthis to defend the city and the West coast, issuing a religious fatwa that commands the militants to fight. The legitimate forces launched their battle to liberate the West coast some five weeks ago. Key to the battle is the involvement of the Republic Guards brigade, which is commanded by Tariq Saleh, the nephew of late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was assassinated by the Houthis in December.