Aden, Sana’a and Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government said on Tuesday they have captured Aden’s international airport and several city districts from Houthi rebels, in a major military breakthrough that saw around 80 percent of the strategic city under the control of the Saudi-backed militants.

This comes after government loyalists, known as the Popular Resistance, launched on Monday a major Aden offensive in which ground, air and naval Arab coalition forces took part.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been bombarding Houthi positions in Yemen since late March in a bid to restore President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to power. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia from Aden, where he had established a temporary base, after the Houthis closed in on the strategic Red Sea port city in late February.

Dozens of Houthi fighters have fled in the direction of the eastern parts of the city, eyewitnesses said, and started randomly shelling nearby areas with mortars and rockets.

Others fled to the neighboring Abyan province as pro-Hadi fighters pushed into Aden’s central district of Khor Maksar.

The popular resistance fighters captured the airport after days of violent clashes with Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Dozens of rebels were killed and injured, including senior Houthi members, during the fighting as Saudi-led warplanes pounded the area around Aden’s international airport, resistance sources said.

The breakthrough comes less than 24 hours after pro-Hadi forces captured Ras Amran, a key Houthi stronghold in Aden governorate.

The Aden campaign, dubbed “Operation Golden Arrow,” is being supervised by President Hadi from Riyadh, a resistance source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Following the capture of the airport, resistance fighters began combing the surrounding areas with military vehicles in search of rebel remnants.

Footage posted online showed pro-Hadi fighters in military vehicles roaming the streets of Aden on Tuesday.

Military experts have largely attributed the recent gains against the Houthis to the high level of coordination between the Saudi-led coalition and the Popular Resistance forces.

Saudi warplanes have contributed directly to the elimination of the Houthis and Saleh’s forces that were positioned around the airport, according to pro-Hadi sources.

The coalition and government loyalists have set up a joint operations room to run the attack, Brig. Gen. Abdullah Al-Subaihi, who led the Aden operation, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Coalition forces have played a significant role in all stages of the Aden operation, Subaihi said. He also said that Yemen’s Arab allies have been supplying the resistance with heavy weaponry and equipment, with the most recent batch being 75 armored vehicles.

“Yemeni militants, recently trained in Saudi Arabia, are fighting alongside the Popular Resistance forces against the Houthis and Saleh’s militias in the areas to the north of Aden’s international airport,” a military source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Resistance forces are eyeing the Houthi-controlled Al-Anad Air Base in the southern Lahj province, 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Aden, a senior member of the southern Al-Hirak movement told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The next significant battle . . . will be for the Al-Anad Air Base, which remains in the hands of the Houthis and Saleh’s militias,” Fuad Rashed, secretary of Al-Hirak’s Supreme Council, told Asharq Al-Awsat on the phone from Sana’a.

Arafat Madabish and Sa’ed Al-Abyadh contributed additional reporting from Sana’a and Jeddah.