United States troops have started their exit process from war-torn Afghanistan hours after President Joe Biden said that he will be sticking to the withdrawal deadline, which is scheduled to expire on August 31, according to US media reports.

Officials from the United States Department of Defense said that the reduction in the number of troops has so far not impacted the ongoing mission in Afghanistan, according to reports from CNN.

“If you can have a smaller mission set and still conduct the mission, then you can reduce your footprint and reduce your risk”, the officials added.

The pace of the retraction can depend on various factors such as the number of active and operational gates at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan’s Kabul and the number of people trying to make their way past them. The commanding officer present at the site can decide which troops are no longer required, the officials said according to reports from CNN.

The Taliban, which took control over the country after former President Ashraf Ghani resigned earlier this month, has openly said that there will be “consequences” if the United States decided to extend their stay in Afghanistan beyond August 31.

While addressing state leaders of the G7 on Tuesday, Biden said that the threat to United States troops in Kabul was one of the key reasons his administration decided to not move up the timeline of withdrawal. 

While addressing from the White House after the G7 emergency meeting, Biden said, “There was strong agreement among the leaders, both about the evacuation mission underway as well as the need to coordinate our approach to Afghanistan as we move forward”, according to reports from CNN.

A readout from the G7 meet on Tuesday affirmed that the troop withdrawal will “end based on the achievement of our objectives”. It further added that the Pentagon and the State Department have been instructed to draw up a “contingency plan to adjust the timeline should that become necessary”.