He played a notable role in the Caucasian theatre of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29) in which he failed to recapture Akhaltsikhe for the Ottomans, but checked Russian attempts to invade Adjara.
Subsequently, Ahmed abandoned his earlier clandestine diplomacy with the Russians and served loyally to the Ottoman government as a commander in Kars and Erzurum.
An incident induced the Russian troops to more energetically engage in the frontier districts, leading to a series of reprisal raids into the Muslim settlements.
[5] In February 1829, Ahmed, at the head of some 20,000 Adjarian and Turkish troops, made a swift advance towards Akhaltsikhe, took control of the city and besieged its citadel defended by General Bebutov.
The garrison held out and Ahmed's brother Avdi Bey was unable to prevent the Russian reinforcements from arriving though the Borjomi Gorge.
He occupied and sacked Khulo, but found himself under siege in a difficult mountainous terrain and had to fight his way, with heavy casualties inflicted by disease and Adjarian guerrillas, back to Akhaltsikh.