In Syria's eastern city of Deir el-Zour, supplies are running so short that desperate residents are selling their gold, valuables and even their homes for food or an exit permit allowing them to escape a siege by both government troops and Islamic State militants.
The extremists have blockaded government-held areas of the city for over a year, and some of its 200,000 residents are slowly starving — while troops and militias supporting President Bashar Assad exploit their suffering.
While international attention was focused recently on Madaya — a rebel-held town surrounded by pro-Assad troops near the capital of Damascus — the United Nations and aid agencies say another catastrophe is unfolding in Deir el-Zour.
The civil war has transformed a once oil-rich city into a place where even something as simple as making tea is a struggle, according to residents who have fled, because of severe shortages of food, water and fuel.