US citizens stranded in Yemen claim government has abandoned them
Saudi-led air strikes batter Houthi positions but US government has no plans to evacuate citizens
US citizens trying desperately to leave war-torn Yemen fear they have been left to their fate by their own government as fighting escalates between rebel fighters and Washington's allies.
Saudi-led air strikes against Shia Houthi rebels have prompted urgent warnings about dangers to civilians, and several countries have evacuated their civilians, including China, India, Pakistan and Somalia.
But the US has not followed suit, despite having three navy ships in nearby waters, including the frigate USS Simpson and the destroyer USS Sterett in or near the Gulf of Aden.
Until recently, Mokhtar Alkanshali was in the port city of Aden, from where he could see those ships. The 26-year-old San Franciscan was in Yemen to work on a project with coffee farmers - partially supported by the government's foreign development arm Usaid - when a Houthi offensive forced president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee the country.
Last week, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mainly Sunni Arab Gulf states launched a counteroffensive against the Houthis - leaving ordinary Yemenis and other nationals caught between the two sides.
Alkanshali said he had just "escaped with my life" from armed militiamen combating the Houthis and their allies, supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
"If they hear me speak English, I will be in immediate danger," Alkanshali said.