“There are some serious problems” in Afghanistan, the director said while appearing on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. “We’re dealing with tribal societies. We’re dealing with a country that has problems with governance, problems with corruption, problems with narcotics trafficking, problems with a Taleban insurgency.”

Although Panetta was able to give some assurances that the US is making progress, he also acknowledged that “we are seeing increasing violence.”

Top US officials have acknowledged the difficulty the administration could face as it seeks to follow through on Obama’s pledge to begin drawing down troops in July 2011. If progress continues to lag, Obama is likely to face intensified pressure from Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander-designate, not to draw down quickly, as well as a countervailing push by Vice President Joe Biden to switch to a smaller military footprint.

CIA director Leon Panetta has estimated there are only 50 to 100 Al-Qaeda militants operating inside Afghanistan, as US forces work to “flush out” mastermind Osama Bin Laden.

Panetta said US forces had killed or captured at least half the Al-Qaeda leadership, making the terrorist group the weakest it has been since the 9/11 attacks.

The spy chief estimated Al-Qaeda’s numbers have shrunk dramatically in Afghanistan. “I think at most, we’re looking at maybe 50 to 100, maybe less,” he said.

“(Al-Qaeda) is probably at its weakest point since 9/11 and their escape from Afghanistan into Pakistan. There’s no question that the main location of Al-Qaeda is in the tribal areas of Pakistan. If we keep that pressure on, we think ultimately we can flush out Bin Laden.”

Panetta said Bin Laden remained “in very deep hiding” in a tribal area in Pakistan surrounded by tremendous security and that the Taleban is “engaged in greater violence right now.”

“They’re doing more on IED’s (improvised explosive devices),” he said.

Also of note, CIA director Leon Panetta says the agency has hired Xe Services — the company formerly known as Blackwater — for a $100-million contract to provide security in Afghanistan.

He says Xe underbid others by $26 million and that a CIA review concludes that the contractor has cleaned up its act. The $100 million contract is in addition to a separate contract Xe has with the State Department to protect US officials in the country.

Blackwater was involved by a series of controversial incidents, including a deadly shootout in Baghdad in 2007 that claimed the lives of 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians and became a political liability for the US government.

A federal grand jury has indicted five Blackwater officials on conspiracy, weapons and obstruction of justice charges.

Peter Singer, author of “Corporate Warriors,” a book on government outsourcing, and an expert on private military firms, said the administration was playing “disappointingly the same old song” by continuing to rely on the company formerly known as Blackwater. “One wonders at what point the government is ever going to act like a halfway smart customer, let alone get the policy end in order,” he said.