Houthi militias suffered heavy losses in troops and equipment during a week of fierce clashes with pro-government Yemeni army forces backed by Saudi-led Arab Coalition air strikes, including the loss of more than 10 field commanders.
Houthi losses come amidst a sweeping state of panic among coup ranks on the broad progress of Yemeni army forces and pro-government Popular Resistance forces on various fronts.
Coalition airstrikes have played a major role in depleting coup resources, artillery and troops.
While Yemeni military sources estimated that over 200 Houthi militiamen were killed on various fronts within a week, other local sources reported that the group was taking its human losses more discreetly, fearing that such news might raise reluctance of new recruits to join battle.
Senior Houthi commander Nasser al-Qubari, who was led major missile operations and was awarded the rank of brigadier general among coup ranks, was killed in the wake of a coalition airstrike targeting several of his aides in a north Saada hideout, north-west of the country.
Qubari previously headed missions that launched rocket attacks against Saudi territory.
Qubari, dubbed is Abu Salah, defected from the Yemeni army.
The late commander headed a militia team who is also responsible for storming Yemen's Al-Yawm channel building—a media outlet closely affiliated with the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress party-- and detaining over 40 crew members, GPC sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Qubari’s death came as a shock to Houthis, who were even more alarmed by the massive loss of field commanders in charge of leading rapid intervention forces.
Another Houthi senior commander dubbed Abu Mekdad was moved to the front lines, in a decision to support a faltering front, said intelligence sources in Sanaa.
Abu Mekdad is one of the insurgency’s top ideologues who received military training in Iran and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Houthi militia received another blow to its rank of leaders with the death of senior leader Mansur al-Sa'adi.
Saadi, who is known as Abu Sajjad, is one of the most prominent militia leaders who has received extensive training and sectarian training in Iran.
He is also a member of the group responsible for overseeing smuggling of Iranian weapons across the Yemeni coast.
The militia also lost one of its most prominent ideological leaders in the Midi front north-west of the Hajjah province during the battle sweeps which liberated the city.
