NEW YORK (AFP) - President Barack Obama on Monday called on Americans "not to succumb to fear" after bomb attacks in New York and New Jersey and a mass stabbing incident in Minnesota over the weekend.

"Even as we have to be vigilant and aggressive both in preventing senseless acts of violence but also making sure that we find those who carry out such acts and bring them to justice, we all have a role to play as citizens in making sure that we don't succumb to that fear," he said.

Obama stressed that investigators at this point saw "no connection" between the incidents on the East Coast and the Minnesota stabbing.