In the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, the days are heavy and the nights are long. The sounds of explosions resonate and the streets are deserted as residents seek refuge in their homes. Too tired, poor, scared and hungry to venture outside, they struggle to survive from one day to the next amid the crippling siege as well as the ongoing Islamic State onslaught.

“All of us have this feeling that you might leave your home and not return,” Zein, a resident of Deir ez-Zor's al-Qusoor neighborhood, told Al-Monitor over the phone. “All the people are traumatized. There is no way to cope, as people become accustomed to a situation that then just gets worse."

He continued, “There is no feeling of security whatsoever, and mortar rounds are hitting the city daily. No part of the city is safe.”

The residents of Deir ez-Zor, which has been under a partial siege since October 2013 and a full one since the end of 2014, have watched helplessly as fuel, water, electricity and now communication with the outside world have slowly disappeared. Today, local mafias rule the streets, basic food products have reached exorbitant prices and the very real threat of an IS-perpetrated massacre looms as the government and its allies scramble to prevent the advance of IS fighters into the city.