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In September 2013, China and Pakistan conducted a three-week long air exercise Shaheen II (Falcon II) in the Hotan Prefecture of China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The exercise was second in a series of joint Sino-Pakistan air exercises, the first of which was held in Pakistan in March 2011. Shaheen II marked the first time a foreign air force exercised alongside the PLAAF in Chinese airspace. While there was no official information regarding the type or number of participating aircraft from either side, an Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) report stated that an unspecified number of Chengdu F-7PG and Mirage 5 aircraft had flown north over the Karakorams to Hotan for Shaheen II. The Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder which is operational with two Pakistan Air Force squadrons, was not been sent to participate on this occasion.