# Civilian casualties of strategic bombing

Strategic bombing is the use of airpower to destroy industrial and economic infrastructure—such as factories, oil refineries, railroads, or power stations—rather than just directly targeting military bases, supply depots, or enemy combatants. Strategic bombing may also include the intent to dehouse, demoralize, or inflict civilian casualties, and thus hinders them from supporting the enemy's war effort. The bombing can be utilized by strategic bombers or missiles, and may use general-purpose bombs, guided bombs, incendiary devices, chemical weapons, biological weapons, or nuclear weapons.
This article is currently not comprehensive, but lists strategic bombing of cities and towns, and human death tolls starting from before World War II.

## Spanish Civil War (July 18, 1936 – April 1, 1939)

| City/Town | Country | Date | Estimated death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Madrid | Spain | 28 August 1936 March 1937 | 1,490 | German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | First modern bombing in history. |
| Jaén | Spain | 1 April 1937 | 159 | German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" | See: Bombing of Jaén. |
| Guernica | Spain | 26 April 1937 | 153 | German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | Considered to be the first aerial attack that caused widespread destruction of a city in military aviation history. See: Bombing of Guernica. |
| Barcelona | Spain | 16–19 March 1938 | 1,000–1,300 | Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | See: Bombing of Barcelona. |
| Alicante | Spain | 25 May 1938 | 275–393 | Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | See: Bombing of Alicante. |
| Granollers | Spain | 31 May 1938 | 100–224 | Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | See: Bombing of Granollers. |
| La Garriga | Spain | 28–29 January 1939 | 13 | Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria | See: Bombing of La Garriga. |

## Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 1, 1939, merged into World War II on September 1, 1939)

| City/Town | Country | Date | Estimated death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Nanking | China | 25 September 1937 | 600 | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service | See: Bombing of Nanking. |
| Guangzhou | China | 28 May and 4 June 1938 | 1,400–1,450 | Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service | Japanese naval bombers attacked Guangzhou, killing 700–750 civilians and wounding 1,350 on 28 May 1938. Seven days later, the city was attacked again, causing an estimated 2,000 casualties (700 deaths). Combined the dates, an estimated 1,400–1,450 Chinese civilians were killed. |

## World War II (September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945)

| City/Town | Country | Date | Estimated death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Wieluń | Poland | 1 September 1939 | c. 1,300 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | See: Bombing of Wieluń. |
| Warsaw | Poland | 1–27 September 1939 | 6,000–7,000 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | See: Bombing of Warsaw in World War II. |
| Rotterdam | Netherlands | 14 May 1940 | 884 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Firestorm. See: Rotterdam Blitz. |
| Berlin | Germany | June 1940 - April 1945 | 50,000 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command, United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force, French Air Force. | Various. See Bombing of Berlin in World War II |
| Milan | Italy | June 1940 – April 1945 | 2,200 | RAF Bomber Command, USAAF | See: Bombing of Milan in World War II. |
| Turin | Italy | June 1940 – April 1945 | 2,069–2,199 | RAF Bomber Command, USAAF | See: Bombing of Turin in World War II. |
| Palermo | Italy | June 1940 – August 1943 | 2,123 | RAF, USAAF | See: Bombing of Palermo in World War II. |
| London | United Kingdom | 7 September 1940 – May 1941 | 40,000-43,000 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Firestorm. See: London Blitz. |
| Chushien | China | 4 October 1940 | 21 | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service | 21 civilians were killed when a Japanese airplane flew over the town of Chushien and released rice and wheat plus rat fleas carrying Y. pestis. |
| Ningbo | China | 29 October 1940 | 99 | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service | 99 civilians were killed when Imperial Japanese Army Air Service bombers struck the city of Ningbo with ceramic bombs full of fleas carrying the bubonic plague. |
| Sukabumi | Indonesia | 6 March 1942 | 70 | Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service | See: Bombing of Sukabumi |
| Naples | Italy | November 1940 – February 1944 | 6,000–7,000 | RAF, USAAF, Luftwaffe | |
| Liverpool | United Kingdom | December 1940 to May 1941 | 4000 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | See: Liverpool Blitz |
| Birmingham | United Kingdom | 19 November 1940 | 450 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Firestorm. See: Birmingham Blitz. |
| Bristol | United Kingdom | 24 November 1940 | 207 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Firestorm. See: Bristol Blitz. |
| Belgrade | Kingdom of Yugoslavia | 6–8 April 1941 | 1,500–4,000 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | See: Operation Retribution (1941). |
| Chongqing | China | 5 June 1941 | 4,000 | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service | Conflagration. Within three hours of bombing, 4,000 residents were asphyxiated to death. See: Bombing of Chongqing. |
| Leningrad | Soviet Union | 19 September 1941 | 1,000 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | See: Siege of Leningrad. |
| Rangoon | Burma | 23 and 25 December 1941 | 1,250–2,000 | Imperial Japanese Army Air Service | Lack of adequate protection of the city caused extensive damage to houses and mass civilian casualties. See: Bombing of Rangoon (1941–1942). |
| Paris | France | 2–3 March 1942 | 600 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | See: Bombing of France during World War II. |
| Cologne | Germany | 30–31 May 1942 | 411 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Cologne in World War II. |
| Stalingrad | Soviet Union | 23 August 1942 | 955 | Oberkommando der Luftwaffe | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Stalingrad in World War II. |
| Mortsel | Belgium | 5 April 1943 | 936 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force | |
| Hamburg | Germany | 24–30 July 1943 | 42,600 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Battle of Hamburg. |
| Bologna | Italy | July 1943 – April 1945 | 2,481 | RAF Bomber Command, USAAF | See: Bombing of Bologna in World War II. |
| Kassel | Germany | 22–23 October 1943 | 10,000 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Kassel in World War II. |
| Augsburg | Germany | 25–26 February 1944 | 730 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Augsburg in World War II. |
| Caen | France | 7 July 1944 | 400 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Carried out in support of Operation Charnwood, the attempt by ground forces to capture Caen. The bombing failed, as the main German armor and infantry positions to the north of Caen remained intact. In order to avoid dropping bombs on their own ground forces, the markers were dropped too far forward, pushing the bombed zone well into Caen itself and further away from the German defenses, and thus inflicting heavy French civilian casualties. |
| Darmstadt | Germany | 11–12 September 1944 | 11,500 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Darmstadt in World War II. |
| Duisburg | Germany | 14–15 October 1944 | 2,500 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Duisburg in World War II. |
| Ulm | Germany | 17 December 1944 | 707 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Ulm in World War II. |
| Dresden | Germany | 13–15 February 1945 | 25,000 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Dresden in World War II. |
| Pforzheim | Germany | 23 February 1945 | 17,600 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II. |
| The Hague | Netherlands | 3 March 1945 | 551 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | The high rate of civilian casualties resulted due to the wrong coordinates given to RAF pilots, which dropped the bombs on the densely populated neighborhood of Bezuidenhout instead of Haagse Bos, where the Germans had installed V-2 launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities. See: Bombing of the Bezuidenhout. |
| Tokyo | Japan | 9–10 March 1945 | 120,000-200,000 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Twentieth Air Force | Conflagration. 279 B-29s dropped about 1,700 short tons (1,500 t) of bombs, destroying 16 square miles (41 km$^2$) of the city. See: Bombing of Tokyo |
| Osaka | Japan | 13–14 March 1945 | 3,987 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Twentieth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Osaka. |
| Würzburg | Germany | 16 March 1945 | 5,000 | Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Würzburg in World War II. |
| Kobe | Japan | 16–17 March 1945 | 8,841 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Twentieth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Kobe in World War II. |
| Taipei | Taiwan | 31 May 1945 | 3,000 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Fifth Air Force | See: Raid on Taipei. |
| Aomori | Japan | 29 July 1945 | 1,767 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Twentieth Air Force | Firestorm. See: Bombing of Aomori in World War II |
| Hiroshima | Japan | 6 August 1945 | 70,000 – 126,000 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 393rd Bomb Squadron | The first of the only two nuclear weapons used in combat. Uranium-based nuclear weapon: codename Little Boy. Between 50,000 and 60,000 were killed, including 20,000 Korean slave laborers. Some 70,000 others suffered burns or died by the end of 1945 and in the years afterwards. See: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
| Nagasaki | Japan | 9 August 1945 | 39,000–80,000 | United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 393rd Bomb Squadron | The second of the only two nuclear weapons used in combat. Plutonium-based nuclear weapon: codename Fat Man. Between 34,850 and 39,850 were killed, including 23,200 to 28,200 Japanese industrial workers and 2,000 Korean slave laborers. Some 50,000 others suffered burns or died by the end of 1945 and in the years afterwards. See: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |

## 1991 Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – February 28, 1991)

| City/town | Country | Date | Estimated death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Baghdad | Iraq | 13 February 1991 | 408 | United States Air Force (USAF) | See: Amiriyah shelter bombing |
| Fallujah | Iraq | 14 February 1991 | 50–150 | Royal Air Force (RAF) | A Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jet fired two laser-guided missiles which were aimed at a bridge which was used as part of an Iraqi military supply line on 14 February 1991. The missiles malfunctioned and struck Fallujah's largest marketplace (which was situated in a residential area), killing between 50 and 150 non-combatants and wounding many more. After news of the mistake became public, an RAF spokesman, Group Captain David Henderson issued a statement noting that the missile had malfunctioned but admitted that the Royal Air Force had made an error. Coalition warplanes subsequently launched another attack on the bridge, with one missile hitting its target while two others fell into the river and a fourth struck another marketplace in Fallujah, due to its laser guidance system once again malfunctioning. |

## NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (1999)

| Location | Date | Death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Varadin Bridge in Novi Sad, Serbia | 1 April 1999 | 1 | NATO | |
| Nogovac, Orahovac, Kosovo | 2 April 1999 | 11 | NATO | $^{:39}$ |
| Oil refinery in Pančevo, Serbia | 4 April 1999 | 3 | NATO | Three workers killed by NATO airstrikes. Subsequently, 80,000 tons of oil ignited into flames, and the concentration of carcinogens over Pančevo rose 10,500 times higher than local laws allowed at the time. |
| Electric heating plant in Belgrade, Serbia | 4 April 1999 | 1 | NATO | One civilian killed by NATO airstrikes. |
| Vranje, Serbia | 5 April 1999 | 2 | NATO | Two civilians killed and 15 injured by NATO airstrikes on a city neighbourhood. |
| Town of Aleksinac, Serbia | 5–6 April 1999 | 12 | NATO | On the night of April 5–6, 1999, 12 civilians killed in the mining town of Aleksinac by NATO airstrikes. A total of 35 homes and 125 apartment units were destroyed, with no obvious military target in the vicinity according to the Serbian newspaper Politika. |
| Train in Leskovac, Serbia | 12 April 1999 | 20–60 | NATO | See Grdelica train bombing. |
| Albanian refugee column in Gjakova, Kosovo | 14 April 1999 | 73 | NATO | See NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Gjakova. |
| Serbian refugee camp at Gjakova | 21 April 1999 | 4–5 | NATO | |
| Radio Television of Serbia headquarters, Belgrade | 24 April 1999 | 16 | NATO | See NATO bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia headquarters. |
| Town of Surdulica, Serbia | 27 April 1999 | 16–20 | NATO | |
| Lužane bridge near Podujevo, Kosovo | 1 May 1999 | 23–60 | NATO | See Lužane bus bombing. |
| Town of Prizren, Kosovo | 1 May 1999 | 12 | NATO | 12 civilians killed. |

## Second Chechen War (1999–2009)

| City/Town | Country | Date | Estimated death toll | Attacking force | Notes |
| Elistanzhi | Chechnya, Russia | October 7, 1999 | 34 | Russian Air Force | See: Elistanzhi cluster bomb attack |
| Grozny | Chechnya, Russia | October 21, 1999 | 118 | Russia's Strategic Missile Troops | The use of Scud ballistic missiles against various civilian and government/military targets. See also: Grozny ballistic missile attack. |