BEIRUT – In a rare public appearance, the leader of the militant Hezbollah group exhorted hundreds of thousands of supporters Monday to keep up the campaign against an anti-Islam video that has unleashed violence and anger at the United States across the Muslim world.

Although the massive, well-organized rally in Beirut was peaceful, protesters set fires near a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, clashed with police in Pakistan, where one demonstrator was killed, and battled with officers outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country.

The turmoil surrounding the low-budget video that mocks the Prophet Muhammad showed no sign of ebbing in the week after protesters first swarmed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, died amid a demonstration in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

At least 10 protesters have died in the riots, and the targeting of Western diplomatic sites has forced Washington to increase security in several countries.

Diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut destroyed classified material as a security precaution, according to a State Department status report.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut was the target of a car bomb in 1983 that killed 63 people; a U.S. Marine barracks was attacked by a car bomb the same year, an incident with 242 fatalities.

Hezbollah’s militia has long been the strongest military force in Lebanon and fought a bloody war with Israel in 2006.

But the group also runs a strong political party and has members in parliament. The faction allied with Hezbollah — known as the March 8th Movement — is the governing coalition.

The appeal for sustained protests by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, could stoke more fury over the video, “Innocence of Muslims.” Nasrallah has rarely been seen in public since his group battled Israel in 2006, fearing assassination.

Nasrallah, who last appeared in public in December 2011 to mark the Shiite holy day of Ashoura, warned of serious repercussions if the U.S. does not ban the film and have it removed from the Internet.

“The world should know that our anger is not a passing thing. … This is the start of a serious campaign that must continue all over the Muslim world in defense of the prophet of God,” he said to roars of support. Nasrallah called for more demonstrations this week to denounce the video.

The movie portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Protesters have directed their anger at the U.S. government, insisting it should ban the film.

— The Washington Post contributed to this story.