In 1780, Effendi was killed in an attack his forces launched to assassinate Emir Yusuf's top confidant, Sa'ad al-Khuri. Sayyid Ahmad then mobilized his Jumblatt and Yazbak allies against Emir Yusuf, but after the latter bribed the Yazbaks with 300,000 qirsh, Sayyid Ahmad's force fell apart. In 1783 and on Jezzar Pasha's orders, Emir Yusuf took over Marjayoun from his maternal uncle Isma'il Shihab.