Update: Algeria announces 3 days national mourning over death of army chief

ALGIERS, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Algerian army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah died of a heart attack on Monday, a statement of the presidency was quoted as saying by the APS news agency.

Newly-elected president Abdelmadjid Tebboune appointed current Ground Forces Commander Said Chengriha as the interim army chief of staff, the report said.

President Tebboune further announced a three-day national mourning in the memory of late Gaid Salah, with national flags flying at half mast, while 7 days of mourning was announced in military institutions, the source added.

Gaid Salah was hit by a heart attack in his house early in the morning and was rushed to a military hospital in Algiers where he succumbed at the age of 80.