U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday that there was no clear evidence that the gunman who triggered a bloodbath in a Florida gay nightclub was directed by a foreign group.

While warning that the investigation was at a "preliminary stage," the president said 29-year-old Omar Mateen appeared to have absorbed "various extremist information" found online.Some 53 people were killed and 53 were injured at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, after a Daesh terrorists seized hostages on Sunday, prompting a police SWAT team to storm the venue, officials said.

Daesh's Amaq news agency said on Sunday that the terrorist group was responsible for the shooting at the nightclub.

"The armed attack that targeted a gay night club in the city of Orlando in the American state of Florida which left over 100 people dead or injured was carried out by a [Daesh] fighter," Amaq said.