Wire reporting: (AP, via KSL)

Protesters broke into a Microsoft data-center construction site in Amsterdam's Sloterdijk district on Friday, with some climbing a crane and setting off flares as police moved to clear the occupation^2,4,8.

Nathan Timmer of the Dutch group Geef Tegengas told local broadcaster AT5 that demonstrators were occupying the site to stop construction of the project^8,16.

Dutch police said Friday evening they detained 150 to 200 people suspected of trespassing; by late afternoon officers were escorting activists off the site, local media reported^8,16.

Microsoft said it was aware of the demonstration, respected peaceful protest and did not condone unlawful or unsafe actions^8,2.

The Verge reported Geef Tegengas helped organize opposition to three planned 85-meter data-center towers on Amsterdam's outskirts⁴.

Organizers of Stop Dirty Data Centres said groups in 15 European countries, including Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and the U.K., planned actions Friday and Saturday seeking a moratorium on large projects^8,16.

Pro-Palestinian activists joined the Amsterdam demonstration; campaigners have tied new computing sites to energy use, water use and, in some slogans, military and surveillance applications^2,3,8.

Smaller protests were reported Friday outside a data center near Berlin and in front of Poland's parliament over projects around Warsaw^8,16.

Microsoft's comment did not address the project's design or a construction halt; whether the Amsterdam towers proceed on schedule is not established in the reporting^8,4.