  The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we present the extension of the
Li\`ege Intranuclear Cascade model to reactions induced by light ions. Second,
we describe the C++ version of the code, which it is physics-wise equivalent to
the legacy version, is available in Geant4 and will serve as the basis for all
future development of the model. We describe the ideas upon which we built our
treatment of nucleus-nucleus reactions and we compare the model predictions
against a vast set of heterogeneous experimental data. In spite of the
discussed limitations of the intranuclear-cascade scheme, we find that our
model yields valid predictions for a number of observables and positions itself
as one of the most attractive alternatives available to Geant4 users for the
simulation of light-ion-induced reactions.
