Civilian casualties of strategic bombing


is the use of airpower to destroy industrial and economic infrastructure—such as factories, oil refineries, railroads, or nuclear power plants—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/TownCountryDateEstimated death tollAttacking forceNotes
JaénSpain1 April 1937159German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion"See: Bombing of Jaén.
GuernicaSpain26 April 1937153German Luftwaffe "Condor Legion" and the Italian Fascist Aviazione LegionariaConsidered to be the first aerial attack that caused widespread destruction of a city in military aviation history.
See: Bombing of Guernica.
BarcelonaSpain16–19 March 19381,000–1,300Italian Fascist Aviazione LegionariaSee: Bombing of Barcelona.
AlicanteSpain25 May 1938275–393Italian Fascist Aviazione LegionariaSee: Bombing of Alicante.
GranollersSpain31 May 1938100–224Italian Fascist Aviazione LegionariaSee: Bombing of Granollers.
La GarrigaSpain28–29 January 193913Italian Fascist Aviazione LegionariaSee: Bombing of La Garriga.

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

City/TownCountryDateEstimated death tollAttacking forceNotes
NankingChina25 September 1937600Imperial Japanese Army Air ServiceSee: Bombing of Nanking.
GuangzhouChina28 May and 4 June 19381,400–1,450Imperial Japanese Navy Air ServiceJapanese 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. Combined the dates, an estimated 1,400–1,450 Chinese civilians were killed.

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

City/TownCountryDateEstimated death tollAttacking forceNotes
WieluńPoland1 September 1939c. 1,300Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
See: Bombing of Wieluń.
WarsawPoland1–27 September 19396,000–7,000Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
See: Bombing of Warsaw in World War II.
RotterdamNetherlands14 May 1940884Oberkommando der LuftwaffeFirestorm.
See: Rotterdam Blitz.
BerlinGermanyJune 1940 - April 194550,000Royal Air Force Bomber Command, United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force, French Air Force.Various. See Bombing of Berlin in World War II
MilanItalyJune 1940 – April 19452,200RAF Bomber Command, USAAF
See: Bombing of Milan in World War II.
TurinItalyJune 1940 – April 19452,069–2,199RAF Bomber Command, USAAF
See: Bombing of Turin in World War II.
PalermoItalyJune 1940 – August 19432,123RAF, USAAF
See: Bombing of Palermo in World War II.
LondonUnited Kingdom7 September 1940 – May 194112,000Oberkommando der LuftwaffeFirestorm.
See: London Blitz.
ChushienChina4 October 194021Imperial Japanese Army Air Service21 civilians were killed when a Japanese airplane flew over the town of Chushien and released rice and wheat plus rat fleas carrying Y. pestis.
NingboChina29 October 194099Imperial Japanese Army Air Service99 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.
NaplesItalyNovember 1940 – February 19446,000–7,000RAF, USAAF, Luftwaffe
LiverpoolUnited KingdomDecember 1940 to May 19414000Oberkommando der LuftwaffeSee Liverpool Blitz
BirminghamUnited Kingdom19 November 1940450Oberkommando der LuftwaffeFirestorm.
See: Birmingham Blitz.
BristolUnited Kingdom24 November 1940207Oberkommando der LuftwaffeFirestorm.
See: Bristol Blitz.
BelgradeKingdom of Yugoslavia6–8 April 19411,500–4,000Oberkommando der LuftwaffeSee: Bombing of Belgrade in World War II.
ChongqingChina5 June 19414,000Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air ServiceConflagration. Within three hours of bombing, 4,000 residents were asphyxiated to death.
See: Bombing of Chongqing.
LeningradSoviet Union19 September 19411,000Oberkommando der LuftwaffeSee: Siege of Leningrad.
RangoonBurma23 and 25 December 19411,250–2,000Imperial Japanese Army Air ServiceLack of adequate protection of the city caused extensive damage to houses and mass civilian casualties.
See: Bombing of Rangoon.
ParisFrance2–3 March 1942600Royal Air Force Bomber CommandSee: Bombing of France during World War II.
CologneGermany30–31 May 1942411Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Cologne in World War II.
StalingradSoviet Union23 August 1942955Oberkommando der LuftwaffeFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Stalingrad in World War II.
MortselBelgium5 April 1943936United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force
HamburgGermany24–30 July 194342,600Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Battle of Hamburg.
BolognaItalyJuly 1943 – April 19452,481RAF Bomber Command, USAAF
See: Bombing of Bologna in World War II.
KasselGermany22–23 October 194310,000Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Kassel in World War II.
AugsburgGermany25–26 February 1944730Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Augsburg in World War II.
CaenFrance7 July 1944400Royal Air Force Bomber CommandCarried 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.
DarmstadtGermany11–12 September 194411,500Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Darmstadt in World War II.
DuisburgGermany14–15 October 19442,500Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Duisburg in World War II.
UlmGermany17 December 1944707Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Ulm in World War II.
DresdenGermany13–15 February 194525,000Royal Air Force Bomber Command and the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Dresden in World War II.
PforzheimGermany23 February 194517,600Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II.
The HagueNetherlands3 March 1945551Royal Air Force Bomber CommandThe 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.
TokyoJapan9–10 March 1945120,000-200.000United States Army Air Forces Twentieth Air ForceConflagration. 279 B-29s dropped about of bombs, destroying 16 square miles of the city.
See: Bombing of Tokyo
OsakaJapan13–14 March 19453,987United States Army Air Forces Twentieth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Osaka.
WürzburgGermany16 March 19455,000Royal Air Force Bomber CommandFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Würzburg in World War II.
KobeJapan16–17 March 19458,841United States Army Air Forces Twentieth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Kobe in World War II.
TaipeiTaiwan31 May 19453,000United States Army Air Forces Fifth Air ForceSee: Raid on Taipei.
AomoriJapan29 July 19451,767United States Army Air Forces Twentieth Air ForceFirestorm.
See: Bombing of Aomori in World War II
HiroshimaJapan6 August 194550,000–60,000United States Army Air Forces 393rd Bomb SquadronThe 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.
NagasakiJapan9 August 194534,850–39,850United States Army Air Forces 393rd Bomb SquadronThe 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/townCountryDateEstimated death tollAttacking forceNotes
BaghdadIraq14 February 1991130Royal Air Force A laser-guided missile intended against a bridge in the Al-Fallujah neighborhood missed and hit a residential area, killing up to 130 civilians.

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (1999)

LocationDateDeath tollAttacking forceNotes
Varadin Bridge in Novi Sad, Serbia1 April 19991NATO
Nogovac, Orahovac, Kosovo2 April 199911NATO
Oil refinery in Pančevo, Serbia4 April 19993NATOThree 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, Serbia4 April 19991NATOOne civilian killed by NATO airstrikes.
Vranje, Serbia5 April 19992NATOTwo civilians killed and 15 injured by NATO airstrikes on a city neighbourhood.
Town of Aleksinac, Serbia5–6 April 199912NATOOn 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, Serbia12 April 199920–60NATOSee Grdelica train bombing.
Albanian refugee column in Gjakova, Kosovo14 April 199973NATOSee NATO bombing of Albanian refugees near Gjakova.
Serbian refugee camp at Gjakova21 April 19994–5NATO
Radio Television of Serbia headquarters, Belgrade24 April 199916NATOSee NATO bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia headquarters.
Town of Surdulica, Serbia27 April 199916–20NATO
Lužane bridge near Podujevo, Kosovo1 May 199923–60NATOSee Lužane bus bombing.
Town of Prizren, Kosovo1 May 199912NATO12 civilians killed.

Second Chechen War (1999–2009)

City/TownCountryDateEstimated death tollAttacking forceNotes
ElistanzhiChechnya, RussiaOctober 7, 199934Russian Air ForceSee: Elistanzhi cluster bomb attack
GroznyChechnya, RussiaOctober 21, 1999118Russia's Strategic Missile TroopsThe use of Scud ballistic missiles against various civilian and government/military targets. See also: Grozny ballistic missile attack.

Libyan Civil War (2011)