by Murad Abdu
ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition made progress in the ongoing military operations and announced full control of key areas in Hodeidah after expelling the Iranian-backed Houthis who had been seizing the Red Sea coast city since 2014.
The anti-Houthi offensive in Hodeidah that resumed after the failure of the Geneva negotiations sponsored by the United Nations enjoyed widespread public support.
Yemeni citizens in Hodeidah believed that military operations are the only remaining solution to end their suffering under the rule of Houthis, declaring their full support for the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
Scores of Hodeidah-based young fighters joined a new army force brigade named as "Tehama Resistance" and started launching operations against the Houthi rebels in their hometown city.
A soldier of the newly-recruited Yemeni troops said that "what can we do after shelling our homes with Houthi artillery rockets and planting thousands of landmines in our farmlands, killing innocent people."
He said by phone that "joining the government forces to expel those Houthi militia is the only thing that we can do now to defend our city."
"Houthis came to Hodeidah to establish explosives factories and landmines and left the citizens suffering from malnutrition. Houthis only think about staying in Hodeidah just to receive smuggled weapons through our ports," he added.
A source of a high-ranking Yemeni government committee in Hodeidah announced that the country's presidency is planning to recruit more than 3,000 soldiers from Hodeidah to join the security forces after the liberation battle in the next days.
Meanwhile, fighting between the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces continued in Hodeidah, killing and injuring scores from both sides.
According to the official spokesman for the pro-government Giants Brigades, the armed forces are tightening the noose on Houthi-controlled areas and will continue to pursue the fleeing Houthi militants in Hodeidah.
"Our armed forces caused heavy losses of equipment and lives amongst the Houthi rebels during within the past 24 hours of fighting in the key route linking Hodeidah with Sanaa," the spokesman Mamun Mahjmi said.
"Large amounts of weapons and ammunition belonging to Houthis were destroyed during the Saudi-led airstrikes that air-covered our forces," he said.
Houthis lost more than 60 fighters as a result of the ferocious fighting that raged over the control of the strategic "Kilo16 road" in Hodeidah, according to the Giants Brigades spokesman.
He confirmed that pro-government Giants Brigades and other army units backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are preparing to unleash a new large operation to capture Hodeidah's University from Houthis in the next hours.
On Wednesday, the Yemeni government troops succeeded in cutting off the "Kilo16 road," the only supply route linking Houthi-controlled areas in northern provinces with the port city of Hodeidah, following days of fierce fighting.
The fresh progress came following a series of airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi-held areas and military bases in Hodeidah, according to local sources.
The Houthi rebels resorted to firing random mortar shells against government-controlled residential areas in Hays district of Hodeidah after losing the "Kilo16 road" and other surrounding areas.
Several civilians suffered injuries and moved to medical centers controlled by the government to receive treatment.
Ibrahim Naji, a Yemeni political activist, said that "expelling Houthis from Hodeidah will help in providing aid and medical services for people suffering malnutrition."
"Houthis are using the people in Hodeidah as human shields and turned the city into a military zone in addition to planting thousands of landmines that harmed innocent citizens," Naji said.
"In several occasions we noticed Hodeidah's citizens going out to the streets to express their happiness and welcome the government forces that expelled Houthis from their areas," he added.
The Yemeni government seeks to expel the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city of Hodeidah militarily despite warnings issued by international humanitarian agencies.
On the other side, the Iranian-backed Houthis have established many underground trenches and vowed to defend the city of Hodeidah in order to remain in control over its key port along the Red Sea.
On June 13, the Arab coalition, backing internationally-recognized government of Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, declared a major assault to recapture Hodeidah and the Yemeni western Red Sea coast from the Houthis.
Yemen's government and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused the Houthi rebels of using Hodeidah's port to smuggle Iranian weapons. Both Houthis and Iran denied the accusation.
Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for food and basic supplies to Yemen's northern provinces controlled by Houthis, including the capital Sanaa.
The Arab coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 to roll back Iran-allied Shiite Houthi rebels and reinstate Hadi.
