Hanf writes that Damascus thought the Christian side had won ground enough over the summer, so Syrian guns blocked the Lebanese Front's bid to cross the Beirut-Damascus road and take Aley. Kataeb fighters who had lost comrades at Aley the day before then killed Druze civilians at Salima (de Clerck and Malsagne).

This bomb ended a wave of attacks (17 September to 2 October 1981, about 300 dead) that de Clerck and Malsagne, after Ronen Bergman, attribute to the 'Front for the Liberation of Lebanon from Foreigners', set up by Israeli officers; Bergman says its car bombs from October 1981 aimed to provoke the Palestinians into a reprisal that would justify an invasion.

The attempt on Walid Jumblatt left him only slightly hurt. Hanf sees it as one more spur to Druze mobilisation, which put about 30,000 men under arms.

Hanf gives 13 dead and 90 wounded. The candle-carrying marchers were heading for the front between Ashrafieh and the eastern suburbs, held by Lebanese Army troops and Lebanese Forces militiamen alike.