Frames from Mecca. Kamchybek Tashiev during the pilgrimage

Recently, a video was published on social media showing Kamchybek Tashiev, the head of the State Committee for National Security, performing Umrah in Mecca. The footage shows him performing Tawaf — the ritual circumambulation around the Kaaba, with a small boy, presumably his grandson, sitting on his shoulders.

Tashiev is dressed in Ihram — the traditional clothing intended for pilgrimage. Among those present in the video, you can also see Kanibek Tumanbaev, the head of the president's office, and Maksatbek aji Toktomushev, the former head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan.

It is worth noting that there are other high-profile government officials from Kyrgyzstan in Saudi Arabia who are also performing the minor pilgrimage — Umrah.