Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken part in the burial ceremony of Hocine Ait-Ahmed, the only remaining national hero of the country’s independence war against their French colonizers

The mourning event was held on Friday near the mountain village of Ath Ahmedh in the Kabyle region, where Ait-Ahmed was born. It, however, turned into a chaotic protest rally by surging crowds of chanting mourners.

Crowds shouted “Algeria free and democratic,” the slogan of the party Ait-Ahmed founded decades ago, the Front of Socialist Forces, which remains active as one of the country’s political opposition forces.

Ait-Ahmed was one of the pioneers of the Algerian resistance movement against the colonization of the major African nation by France in 1954, triggering a fierce battle for the country’s independence.

He was reportedly the last of the nine heroes of the Algerian independence war to pass away. Years after the victory of the independence movement, he was forced into exile by the then rulers in the country.

He reportedly passed away on Wednesday at the age of 89 in the Swiss city of Lausanne after spending nearly 25 years in exile in Europe.

A state funeral was held in the Algerian capital on Thursday, which was broadcast live on the state-controlled media. His family, however, refused to allow Ait-Ahmed to be buried at the same site as the other heroes of the independence war in Algiers.

Ait-Ahmed had been a major critic of Algerian military control over the country’s political system following its independence from France in 1962.