Egypt on Wednesday held a military funeral service for former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years until he was toppled in a popular uprising in 2011.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attended the ceremony. He was flanked by Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal, top government officials and military leaders and as they led the funeral procession at a mosque complex in the eastern New Cairo suburb.

Mubarak's flag-draped coffin was borne through the site on a horse-drawn carriage as honour guards fired off a 21-gun salute. Soldiers marched behind carrying Mubarak's military medals.

The body of the former president was carried via a helicopter earlier in the day to the Mosheer Tantawy Mosque where the military funeral was held.

Mubarak died at a Cairo military hospital on Tuesday at the age of 91, weeks after undergoing a surgery.

Dozens of Mubarak's supporters, wearing black and carrying posters of the former leader, gathered outside the mosque in the early morning before funeral service started.

Mubarak's body will be airlifted from the mosque later in the day to be interred at burial grounds in Cairo's Heliopolis district.

Egyptian honour guards escort the coffin of former president Hosni Mubarak during his funeral ceremony at Cairo's Mosheer Tantawy mosque in the eastern outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 26, 2020 (Photo: AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi shakes hands with Alaa, son of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, during Mubarak's funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020. (Photo: Egyptian presidency)

People watch a helicopter carrying the coffin of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during his funeral east of Cairo, Egypt February 26, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Earlier, Egyptian honour guards carried Mubarak's coffin wrapped in the Egyptian flag on their shoulders into the mosque along with his sons.

Top military officials and Gulf Arab leaders also attended the funeral service of the former air force commander.

The Egyptian presidency mourned Mubarak's death with "great sorrow" and praised him as a "hero" of the 1973 war, and the military hailed him as "one of its sons" and offered condolences to his family.

The country will observe three days of nationwide public mourning, starting Wednesday, to mark the death of the former president.

Mubarak was ousted following massive protests during the popular uprising that started in January 2011.

Mubarak was arrested two months following his overthrow and stood trial in a number of criminal cases on various charges. He spent most of his detention years in a military hospital in Cairo until his acquittal in 2017 after he was cleared of all charges.

Mubarak and his sons were found guilty in only one of several cases against them in 2015, in which they were sentenced to three years for using public funds to renovate family residences.

He was sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill protesters during the 18-day popular uprising, but was freed after being cleared of the charges.

Egyptian honour guards escort the coffin of former president Hosni Mubarak during his funeral ceremony at Cairo's Mosheer Tantawy mosque in the eastern outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 26, 2020 (Photo: Egyptian presidency)

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb (2nd R) and Egypt's Pope Tawadros II (3rd R), the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria on the Holy See of Saint Mark and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki (4th R), stand among other Arab officials during the funeral ceremony of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak (Photo: AFP)

The sons of of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak, Alaa (6th R) and Gamal (4th R), attend their father's funeral ceremony at Cairo's Mosheer Tantawy mosque in the eastern outskirts of the Egyptian capital before the funeral on February 26, 2020.(AFP)

Arab officials attend the funeral ceremony of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak at Cairo's Mosheer Tantawy mosque in the eastern outskirts of the Egyptian capital before the funeral on February 26, 2020 (Photo: AFP)

Supporters of Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak hold pictures of the late leader near the family cemetary where he will be buried, in the Heliopolis neighbourhood in the capital Cairo, on February 26, 2020 (Photo: AFP)

Egyptian honour guards escort the coffin of former president Hosni Mubarak during his funeral ceremony at Cairo's Mosheer Tantawy mosque in the eastern outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 26, 2020 (Photo: AFP)