By Mohamed Wali, Serhad Shakir and Hussein al-Amir

NINEVEH, Iraq

At least 14 Iraqi policemen were killed in a spate of suicide bombings in western Mosul on Saturday, according to a local police officer.

Six Daesh bombers blew up themselves in Bab al-Toub district in Mosul's Old City with Daesh militants seizing control of two buildings in the area where federal police personnel were stationed, First Lieutenant Harith Kazim told Anadolu Agency.

"Fourteen police personnel were killed and 20 others injured in the attacks," he said.

He said Iraqi police forces managed to recapture the two buildings after the intervention of the Iraqi warplanes, killing 17 militants.

Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities relieved general Ali al-Lami, the commander of the federal police's 5th Battalion, of his duties over "security breaches" in Mosul's Old City, according to police officer Ahmed al-Jabouri.

In October, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- began a wide-ranging operation to retake Mosul, Daesh’s last bastion in northern Iraq, which the militant group overran in 2014.