Algiers (dpa) – Algeria’s military chief Gaid Salah, a key figure in a turbulent year for Algeria, was laid to rest on Wednesday in the capital Algiers after a funeral attended by massive crowds of mourners.

Salah, who died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a heart attack, was buried in al-Alia cemetery at Martyrs' Square, where former presidents and senior officials are buried.

The burial was attended by newly elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, top army commanders and senior state officials.

His body arrived at the cemetery in a wooden coffin, covered in a national flag and carried on a military vehicle, in a procession surrounded by large numbers of motorbike outriders.

In the funeral oration, Boualem Madi, the head of the Communication Department at the Defence Ministry, praised Salah as a “hero who devoted his life, from an early age, to the country's independence and the recovery of national sovereignty.”

Newly elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had declared three days of national mourning, set to end on Wednesday, and seven days for the army establishment.

Tebboune appointed on Monday General Said Chengriha as the acting chief of staff, to replace Salah.

Salah was seen as instrumental in the resignation of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April, adding to the pressure on the long-time ruler after mass protests in the country.

After the protests broke out in February, Salah called for the application of a constitutional article which allows for the removal of the president on health grounds.

In the months that followed Bouteflika's departure, Salah defied protesters' demands that he also resign. He supported the elections held earlier this month, which brought Tebboune to office.

Salah had described the elections as the only way out of the crisis in the country.

Salah received military training in the Soviet Union and was appointed head of Algeria's land forces in 1994.

He was appointed as chief of staff in 2004, and held a civilian post alongside that role as deputy minister of defence as of 2013; the defence minister in Algeria is generally the country's president.

Following Bouteflika's resignation, Salah supported an anti-corruption crackdown, with key people in Bouteflika's inner circle having been brought to justice. "The army is committed to backing justice," he had said.

The North African country has been gripped by mass protests against Tebboune.

The protesters consider Tebboune to be part of Bouteflika's authoritarian elite, as he served briefly as prime minister in 2017.