WESTERN leaders must engage with the Taliban to prevent Afghanistan becoming a failed state hosting terrorist groups, a former head of the British armed forces claimed today.

General Sir Nick Carter, who was chief of the defence staff until last November, described “a failure of political will” as responsible for the US defeat in Afghanistan last year, which led to a chaotic withdrawal of its own and allied, including British, troops.

Speaking a year after the botched evacuation, he also said it “appears” that Britain let down Afghan contractors.