In 1861, Osman was sent to Beirut Vilayet, where a rebellion had been started by Yusuf Ekrem in Syria. In 1866 he was dispatched to another troubled area of the Empire, Crete, which was engulfed in a massive revolt. His efforts there were noticed by Serdar-ı Ekrem Omar Pasha, so he was promoted to Colonel and awarded the Order of the Medjidie, Third Class Order (Gold). His next appointment was Yemen, in 1868, where he was promoted to the rank of Major-General with the title of Pasha, but also caught a disease which forced him to return to Constantinople in 1871.