A judge ordered 16 soldiers to remain behind bars while the investigation into the deaths continues.
The Attorney General's Office of Ecuador has confirmed that the charred remains found last week in the city of Taura are the bodies of four minors who disappeared on December 8.
The attorney general's office announced the findings Tuesday after the children's disappearance sparked outrage across the country, as well as questions about the involvement of Ecuador's military.
“The results of forensic genetic tests confirm that the four bodies found in Taura correspond to the three teenagers and one child who disappeared after a military operation on December 8,” the office said in a post on social media.
The families of the four missing children, aged between 11 and 15, said they had gone out to the coastal city of Guayaquil to play soccer when they disappeared.
Surveillance footage appeared to show two of the four children being taken away by soldiers in a van.
But the Associated Press news agency reported that the investigation into the children's disappearance appeared to have stalled. While authorities had surveillance footage a day after the alleged kidnapping, an investigation into the military's involvement was not announced until 15 days later.
The investigation into the military's alleged involvement only began after relatives pressed for more information on social media and in the press.
The children's disappearance comes amid a crackdown on gang-related crime in Ecuador that has included several state of emergency declarations.
Those orders have given sweeping powers to state security forces, but critics have warned that further militarization could open the door to human rights abuses.
Last week, 16 members of Ecuador's military were arrested in connection with the children's disappearance.
Shortly before their remains were identified on Tuesday, Judge Dennis Ugalde Álvarez ordered that the 16 soldiers remain behind bars while an investigation into their alleged participation is carried out.
Antonio Arroyo, uncle of two of the missing children, told the Reuters news agency after Tuesday's ruling that he hoped to see the military personnel involved in the case locked up.
“Let them go directly to prison where they belong. We want them to be arrested [in jail]not on a military base,” Arroyo said.
Protests over the disappearances, known collectively as the “Malvinas Case,” have erupted in the capital of Quito, as well as Guayaquil.
“We will not accept it. “We are angry and indignant because the government and the authorities have not said anything,” retiree Fernando Bustamante, 70, told Reuters as he stood with protesters outside the Guayaquil court where the judge handed down the ruling.
In his efforts to address the rise in violent crime in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa has designated some 22 criminal groups as “terrorist” organizations and declared several states of emergency to allow the military to assist the police.
In April, voters also overwhelmingly approved a series of measures aimed at giving law enforcement broader powers to combat crime.
However, these states of emergency have a long and troubled history in Latin America, where security forces have sometimes claimed extraordinary powers in the name of fighting crime.
State abuses such as corruption, torture and forced disappearances have often been linked to such emergency declarations.
