Islamabad, Jan 15 (IANS): Muslim countries must confront religious extremism without drawing a line between "good" and "bad" militants, a Pakistani newspaper said on Friday.

"Unfortunately, some Muslim states have either looked away as extremist groups grew in size and strength in their backyards while others have used these as proxies in geopolitical conflicts," a Dawn editorial said. 

"It is also true that most Muslim states - both authoritarian set-ups and democracies - have failed to deliver social, economic and political justice to their citizens, helping fuel the rise of radical movements, which want to destroy the 'system' and build it anew in their own image."

The Dawn said that Muslim states must realize that the militant tide has to be confronted without differentiation between "good" and "bad" militants.

While joint counterterrorism efforts were needed. any alliance built along sectarian or geopolitical lines was doomed to fail, it said.

Referring to recent terror attacks in Pakistan and Turkey, it said these showed "that nearly all Muslim states - despite geographic, cultural and political differences - are vulnerable to violent religious extremism."