ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria’s intelligence chief, Athmane Tartag, has been removed from his post, private Ennahar television station reported on Friday.

Tartag, a retired army general, was an ally of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned on Tuesday in the face of mass protests.

His reported departure from the job came after Algeria’s military carefully managed Bouteflika’s exit in an attempt to defuse mass protests calling for democratic reforms.

Algeria is now in the hands of a caretaker government -- which is unlikely to mollify anger on the streets -- until elections in three months and with no successor in sight.