Iraq war drama "The Hurt Locker" scooped its first award of the Oscars, with former journalist Mark Boal winning the best original screenplay award.
Boal, who wrote the script after working as an embedded reporter alongside a US Army bomb disposal unit in 2004, dedicated his Oscar to troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I was a reporter back from Iraq with the idea for a story about these men on the front lines of an unpopular war," Boal said. "I thought it might make a movie. The result wildly exceeded my expectations.
"I would also like to thank and dedicate this to the troops, the 115,000, who are still in Iraq, 120,000 (in) Afghanistan, and the more than 30,000 wounded and 4,000 who have not made it home," Boal said.
Kathryn Bigelow's film is up for nine Oscars, including best picture and best director.
