Egypt's military rulers on Sunday hailed the low turnout in strikes called by anti-army activists exactly a year since Hosni Mubarak's ouster on February 11 as a victory against their opponents.

In an unusually florid statement on its Facebook page, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) praised Egyptians as a source of "inspiration," adding that the generals "could not, no matter what we say, do you justice."

"Yesterday and today... you expressed your opinion with determination, inspired by a deep-rooted civilisation you built on the banks of the Nile River before history was born," it said.

"You said your piece in the largest referendum in the republic... You said: 'Yes to work, for the sake of Egypt and its people... and no to going backwards, no to losing bets on the future'," the SCAF said.

A planned day of civil disobedience and strikes against the military saw only a small turnout on Saturday.

The call for strikes in universities and work places came after a wave of protests pressuring the military to transfer power immediately to civilians, rather than wait for presidential elections later this year.